Brent Bulls Senior Clubs (Men’s & Women’s) due to the recent second UK lockdown and lack of facilities and resources available, officially opt-out of the National Basketball League for the upcoming 2020-21 season.
After a discussion with the committee, captains and coaches, Brent Bulls decided to pull out of the National Basketball League after deciding to enter in the summer of 2020. The club was excited to enter it’s debut season in the National Basketball League, with both programmes signing key experienced NBL players ready to represent and compete for the Bulls this season.
It’s been a challenging few months. The next few months are very unpredictable, and the amount of facilities and resources available are minimal in our area. We had huge excitement to bring senior basketball back to Brent, and we will still work with the foundations and core developed in the club already and build on that excitement for a stronger start for 2021-22 campaign and compete for the promotion.
Clive Castillo, Brent Bulls Club Director
The Men’s programme was set to enter the National Basketball League Division 3, but the lack of resources and facilities in the summer made it a difficult challenge to find a home venue for the club, let alone a consistent training venue. After eventually running successful trials, the UK Government introduced the ‘Rule of Six’ which stopped non-elite basketball competing a few weeks later. Anything below Men’s & Women’s National Basketball League Division 1 is classed as non-elite.
The Women’s programme was in the same situation, the ‘Rule of Six’ came in just when Head Coach Diana Voynova was finalising her roster for the season. The roster included players who have competed internationally and former NBL D1 talent.
This decision has not been easy to make as we were very much looking forward to the season but we believe it is the right one.
Diana Voynova, Brent Bulls Women’s Head Coach
The club still plans to develop the senior programmes. Men’s and Women’s practices will resume once the UK Government and Basketball England give the green light to all sports from all levels. The club also plans to participate in friendlies and possible tournaments to help build the club chemistry and experience together in preparation for the 2021-22 campaign.
The Junior Bulls programmes are still set to compete in the JNBL (Junior National Basketball League) this January 2021.