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Schools and colleges across the area are preparing for the new season which begins after October half term. The major players in the schools league have already confirmed their entry with Manor College Heat, Nunthorpe Lions and Blakeston Bulls hoping to put their best foot forward and get off to a winning start. Last season the U14 league opened with a huge clash between Manor and Nunthorpe with the Hartlepool side claiming a 7pt win and effectively taking the edge for the rest of the season. Heat finished as champions with an incredible 11 wins from 11 games and the Nunthorpe side themselves maintained a 10 game winning streak but finished 2pts behind leaders Manor.

Norton Knights did well to finish second in the U16 league, just 1pt ahead of Team UCA and 2pts ahead of Stokesley Tigers in what was a great finish to the top tier of schools basketball. Manor College though were the champions with yet another 11 game unbeaten run to match their U14 comrades.

Manor in fact won all categories of the league in a clean sweep of honours aside of the County Cup in which Nunthorpe salvaged some pride as they beat Manor in the U14 & U16 finals. The standard though has now been set for yet another great season with Blakeston Bulls, on the back of a disappointing season by their standards, looking for honours after picking up the Year 10 Final in 2008. Other emerging schools are Macmillan Academy Magic, St Michaels and Egglescliffe.

One pleasing aspect of the schools league is the attention given by some schools towards the future development of their schools. James Thomson, who runs the schools league added “We have developed a system to encourage schools to have teams in U12, U14 & U16 teams which will provide a sound production line of development. In previous years some schools would rely on one age group to represent the school.” Manor College, Egglescliffe, Macmillan and Blakeston have all entered teams into U12 and U14 categories which, as long as this can be maintained, will allow the young players opportunities to progress and ensure future stability for the schools basketball clubs.

The overall standard of the schools league is very good. Lots of young people are turning to the sport because of the website within game-time.co.uk, the media coverage, the huge finals event, presentation evening and so much more that is raising the profile of the game. In general, basketball has always been a sport that has appealed to youngsters because of the fashion and music associated and the skill levels and speed of the game. There is also a healthy proportion of girls involved with many girls being taller having a slight advantage over the boys. For schools with strong girls teams there is also the girls U14 & U16 leagues.