Its been a long time coming, my next blog post that is! Many things have happened since my last blog post and over the next few weeks I will get you up to date with everything going on. However for now here is a few questions I have answered to let you know a little more about myself. I will be getting my teammates to do the same so you can be more familiar with us as a team. Let me know what you think..
1- Why have you decided to sign for the Spinners this season?
I really didn’t know what I would be doing this season with regards to playing basketball, at one point I was contemplating not playing at all. However after a few weeks off from sport the urge to play grew and grew. I had offers from other teams to join their pre-season trainings come august but that was just too long away for me. Obviously I was still in touch with most of the Spinners team and coaching staff (Raptors last year) and when they asked me to come training and told me their plans for the upcoming season I couldn’t refuse.
2- What teams have you played for previously?
As a child I grew up playing football as my main sport, I also got involved with almost every sport I could at high school which is where I found a knack for basketball. Being taller than most lads in year 7 helped a lot and one of my close friends played for a club outside of school which he invited me down to the training session one evening. So my first club, at the time, was Rossendaliens. I played down at the Amaechi centre on Friday nights in a local league and then progressed to the Manchester Magic trials. Unfortunately I didn’t make the cut but got put in a development programme where I quickly progressed and then joined the Magic u15’s. I stayed with this club playing through the age groups including Senior Men’s in Div 3 + 2 until just last season where I re-joined with my hometown club in November.
3- Whats your best individual achievement so far in basketball?
I have had quite a lot of great memories whilst playing for basketball and so it is hard to pick out one moment which stands out as my greatest individual achievement. However as it is the greatest individual achievement and not the moment which means most to me I will have to say that it was being named part of the all-star 5 team at the 2011 Haris Tournament. I was in my first year of under 18 basketball and to be acknowledged as one of the 5 best players for a tournament which had so many talented players from national teams and national clubs I felt really proud and believed it was a great accomplishment.
4- How well can the Lancashire Spinners team do this season?
The Lancashire Spinners have a very talented squad this year. I would go so far as to say we could win the division 2 title and gain promotion. On the other hand though we could be our own enemy as a club and fail dramatically for the targets we set and just be a mediocre team in the division. It is a very long season though and hopefully over the next few weeks we can shape up well and be ready for the start of the season come October.
5- What are your personal goals for the upcoming season?
I always set out personal goals with regards to becoming a better player and also for what I want to accomplish with my team. However I am going into my 2nd year of university and so need to take my studies more seriously this year. I believe that if I can complete the year playing a crucial role in the Spinners team whilst balancing my studies and social life then personally that will be a success.
6- What are some of your life ambitions, both inside and out of basketball?
All my life I have been interested in sport. Since a small child my parents always pushed me to lead a healthy lifestyle and be active taking part in various sports. I believe that due to this I have a sporting nature engrained into myself and so it only seems right for me to be involved with sport in my life. Although I know it is a dream, I do believe it can happen and some day would like to play abroad or in England as a professional basketball player. With this in mind I do want to always be involved in sport in my job and so at this moment in time I think I would like to go down the route of becoming a PE teacher. I don’t have anything definite in my mind apart from the fact that whatever I do has to be involved with sport and not have me sat behind a desk.
7- What is your favourite basketball movie?
Like every single basketball player in England I have probably seen every film relating to basketball that you can name, however my all-time favourite is Space Jam. It’s funny because as I never started playing basketball until I was in high school, yet this film was one of my favourite films already. Then when I started enjoying playing basketball it just became even more relevant.
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