Belfast City Council in partnership with Basketball NI have been delivering an Every Body Active summer camp to females at Better Olympia Leisure Centre. The programme has participants of all ages and abilities from beginners to national league players. The participants surely know how to reap the social benefits as well as getting more active more often!
“I’ve found that the older you get, especially as a woman, the less opportunities there are for you to participate in sport. The last few weeks has allowed me to play basketball while meeting people of different ages and abilities, who share the same love for the sport as I do. It has been an escape after busy days, and I have enjoyed every minute. My only wish is that it would continue to be a weekly thing for a longer period of time, as I don’t want the fun to end just yet.” – Participant
“This ladies basketball scrimmage was born out of the fact that women playing at all levels of basketball were crying out for a full women’s scrimmage during the summer and throughout the year (if we can keep it going) in Belfast. There are summer leagues that women can take part in but it’s usually with the accompaniment of men. So this was solely to give them that opportunity to play with females only.
We’ve had all standards come through the doors throughout the summer. Players that regularly play at the highest level in Ireland (National league) right down to beginners that have never played the sport but just want to challenge themselves, get fit and meet new people. It’s been great fun and sometimes there’s been more chatting than playing but so far everyone has enjoyed it and are eager to keep it going.
As you well know, women in sport is a challenging situation for all sports at the moment. It seems that women step away from the competitive side of sport at a very young age and our session gives them an opportunity to get a run out twice a week and hopefully that will guide them back into competitive sport or just feel good about being active & part of something.” – Every Body Active Coach: Andrew Mulholland
“Better Olympia Leisure Centre has recently commenced a partnership with Basketball NI. After initially establishing the booking we are keen to work with Belfast City Council and Basketball NI to develop the activity on a long term basis. The current basketball partnership has also included a strong female usage from traditionally hard to reach age groups. This further helps to support our focus upon community engagement and works towards ensuring sustainable participation from Basketball usage within the centre.” – Olympia Leisure Centre manager, Adrian Walker