NASSA has forged a ground-breaking new partnership with the London’s Air Ambulance charity. London’s Air Ambulance is now despatched to attend victims of knife and gun crime more often than road traffic victims.
Working with local young people at risk of exclusion or those excluded from school as well as young offenders, the programme fuses basketball skills training with education on all aspects of knife crime. The young people are given talks through NASSA’s award-winning Carry A Basketball Not A Blade (CABNAB) initiative. In addition, they receive comprehensive insight into the work of London’s Air Ambulance service through talks, a tablet-based app, advice on careers in the emergency services and visits to the London Hospital Helipad.
As well as coaching qualifications, the programme offers the young people the opportunity to gain First Aid qualifications.
NASSA and London’s Air Ambulance have committed to working with each other until at least the end of 2022.
NASSA is proud to be providing east London with its next generation of sports coaches. Since 2016, the NASSA Junior Community Coaches Programme has qualified over 300 young people aged 16-21 as basketball coaches in Newham, Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Barking & Dagenham and Hackney.
Many of the young people are now in paid roles as part-time coaches and officials.
NASSA is committed to providing the young people in its care with the opportunity to further their education through basketball and to gain officially recognised Basketball England qualifications in both officiating and coaching.
Run initially on a pilot basis, NASSA created an after-school girls basketball programme in August 2018 with sessions run firstly at University of East London’s SportsDock facility, then out of Sarah Bonnell School in Stratford.
The initial sessions attracted only three or four girls, but through word of mouth and advertising within schools, over 20 girls aged between 14-16 now participate every week. The sessions are run by a female coach and the participants are offered mentoring advice on a range of topics from stopping smoking (a particular problem among teenage girls in the Borough of Newham) to healthy eating and knife crime awareness.
Encouraged by the commitment shown by the girls, NASSA now runs an Under-16s girls team in National League competitions, thereby further enhancing the enjoyment of the girls who participate.
NASSA established this mentoring programme in June 2018 to give local young people aged 14-21 the opportunity to learn basketball skills, gain qualifications and benefit from the knowledge and experience of NASSA’s unique seven-strong team of mentor leaders.
Each one of the NASSA Mentor Leaders, who include NASSA Patron, Rt Hon Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham and Team GB basketball international Teddy Okereafor, is fully committed to giving their time voluntarily to the programme and to the young people they will be mentoring.
The NASSA Mentor Leaders have succeeded in a range of fields. They inspire the young people to create their own pathway through life and use the power of basketball to promote qualities such as discipline, respect, timekeeping, self-control, self-esteem and confidence.
NASSA runs age-group teams in Basketball England’s National League structure. Our 150 club members train at least twice weekly and play fixtures at weekends. Since its inception, NASSA has developed a culture of winning with 15 national titles being claimed since 2007.
In the junior age groups, players share equal court time throughout the season.
The programme is run on a purely voluntary basis. Coaches give their time for free while many parents help with duties such as washing kit and transporting players to away games, as well as taking on team management and secretarial roles.
15.30–17.30 U-14s
U-16s Girls (Court 1) / U-14s
U-16s Boys (Court 2)
17.30–19.30 U-18s Boys
Mayfield School, Ilford RM8 1XE
Cost:
Free for members
£6.00 for non-members
18.00–20.00 U-14s Boys (Court 1)
U-16s, U-18s Boys (Court 2)
(except school holidays)
Rokeby School, Canning Town E16 4DD
Cost:
Free for members
£6.00 for non-members
16.00–18.00 U-12s Mixed
18.00–20.00 U-16s, U-18s Boys
20.00–22.00 18+ Boys, Senior Men
16.00–18.00 U-14s, U-16 Girls
UEL, SportsDock, Beckton E16 2RD
Cost:
Free for members
£6.00 for non-members
16.00–18.00 U-12s Mixed Junior Development
UEL, SportsDock, Beckton E16 2RD
Cost:
Free for members
£6.00 for non-members
09.30–11.00 Boys & Girls, Junior Development
UEL, SportsDock, Beckton E16 2RD
Cost:
£5.00 for members and non-members
This session is followed by Junior National League games.