New basketball coaching programme set to begin

Pupils from Ballykeel PS and St Brigid's PS who took part in the recent Basketball Twinning Programme.

The initiative has been generated from the recent success of the PeacePlayers Twinning Programme, held locally in the Seven Towers Leisure Centre and featuring a number of local primary schools.

The new coaching programme will start Thursday 22nd January for 10 weeks from 5pm to 6:30pm at Seven Towers Leisure Centre.

The programme will be targeted at children aged between 7 and 12yrs old with only a £5 registration fee paid in the first week with the rest of the 10 weeks completely free.

Participants can join the programme at any time.

This new programme is one element of a larger comprehensive strategy to provide an opportunity to bring a generation of young people together to enjoy a fun and exciting sport.

With the recent success of the Ballymena Community Sport Basketball Twinning Programme delivered by PeacePlayers International, it has generated a lot of excitement for basketball and it is a great opportunity for children to learn and play a new sport.

The whole programme is jointly funded by the Department of Social Development and Ballymena Policing and Community Safety Partnership.

To date over 600 primary and post primary school pupils have participated in what has proven a very successful project.

Community Sport Development Officer, Gary Boyd, who heads up the entire project is eagerly looking forward to the new initiative taking shape.

“This new after school basketball coaching and games programme is a wonderful opportunity for the sport of basketball to develop again in Ballymena as the sport provides the fundamental skills needed for young people to fulfil a lifelong enjoyment of sport in general,” explains Gary. The project has been given the support of Ballymena Borough Council’s Active Communities Programme and Seven Towers Leisure Centre who are instrumental to making this project happen.

Places are limited and leaflets with application forms can be picked up from any of the following locations: Seven Towers Leisure Centre, Ballymena Showgrounds, Peoples Park and Tourist Information Centre.

For further information please contact Gary Boyd on 028 2566 5897 or email [email protected]