Junior Tournament

On Saturday afternoon Rossendale Leisure Trust and the Raptors came together to organise a junior basketball tournament at Haslingden Sports Centre. There were five teams in the competition, 3 teams from Rossendale and two from St Wilfreds school in Blackburn. For many of the youngster aged between 8-12 this was their first competitive basketball and they acquitted themselves brilliantly. The talented girls teams from St Wilfred's won each of their games in the round robin pool and faced each other in the final.

The quality of the girls basketball was excellent and coach Mark Reeves commented, "The girls have been high on the excitement still from the weekend, they love it and just want more fixtures".

St Wilfred's pupil Abby Dearden was chosen as best player in the tournament by Raptors national league star Steven Gayle.

The teams from Rossendale included the first ever competitive action for the new Bacup team which has been formed with the support of funding from Rossendale Borough Council. The Bacup team were brilliant, fighting for every loose ball, passing the ball well and looked to be very well coached by up and coming young coach Beth Cattle (19).

Beth was delighted with the teams performance; “It was so good for the kids to get some competitive games for the first time. They did so well and I was delighted for them. They all seemed to really enjoy it and we’re looking forward to continuing to develop the team and get more young people at the Thursday night sessions.”