51³Ô¹ÏÍø

On Monday 14 October, Sport 51³Ô¹ÏÍø launched partnership with the London Lions at Ethos Sports Hall.

On Monday 14 October, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø students, staff and partner organisations gathered at the Ethos Sports Hall to celebrate the Launch of the Sport 51³Ô¹ÏÍø and the London Lions Partnership. 

As the only professional basketball club in London, the London Lions compete in the British Basketball League (BBL) – the top men’s basketball league in the UK and recently secured their home venue at the Copper Box in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. 

The afternoon started with a welcome from Neil Mosley, Head of Sport 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, and Vince Macaulay, Head Coach and Chief Executive of London Lions. In his welcome message, Vince expressed his confidence in this new partnership: “we knew very well that 51³Ô¹ÏÍø will make a perfect partner organisation for the Lions. We wanted an organisation that is best at what they do and also have an international mix, and 51³Ô¹ÏÍø came top of the list. We are very excited that we will be working together to increase the profile of Basketball in the UK.”

Student representatives from IC and ICSM Basketball Clubs also had the opportunity to share their excitement about this partnership. Rhys Comissiong from the IC Basketball Club said, ‘this is a great opportunity for the Club. We have been receiving training from the Lions and it was great! Our Club members have been increasing since the Olympics last year and we are confident that this partnership will open new opportunities for us and will help take the club further.”

It was an exciting moment of the evening when the partnership was officially unveiled and guests were able to get a taste of basketball competition by taking part in the Hoops Challenge afterwards. Neil Mosley, Head of Sport 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, thanked all the guests for coming to the event and shared his vision of the partnership: “there is no doubt that it will be great! Basketball is increasingly popular among our students and we think this is the time to develop it (basketball) further, and this partnership is exactly what we need to make this happen…”

The partnership started in September 2013 and the Lions prepared for the 2013-14 season at Ethos Sports Centre, with the Active Lifestyles Team pre-season training programme. The Lions also joined us for the Fresher’s Fair, promoting basketball to the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø community. With a capacity of 7,000 at the Copper Box, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø students and staff will receive discounted ticket offers for the Lions home games and will have the opportunity to enjoy the great atmosphere in the impeccable Olympic venue. Furthermore, students clubs and societies will benefit from exclusive training opportunities from London’s top professional basketball club, and even have the chance of playing matches in the Copper Box!

Guests were treated to food and drinks, and 51³Ô¹ÏÍø students and staff enjoyed the rest of the afternoon talking to the players and coaches from the London Lions.