Basketball Success for the Riley brothers
After trials with the Newcastle Eagles basketball team, Marden students Josiah Riley (Year 11) and his brother Theo (Year 9) were selected to represent Newcastle in the prestigious Premier League 4 Sport 3on3 tournament at the Amaechi Centre in Manchester on Sunday 18th May.
Selected in a squad of only 5 from the Newcastle area, an outstanding achievement in itself, the boys were victorious, winning the U16 boys tournament.
Yr9 Theo celebrates with teammates
The Premier League trophy was also on hand for the participants to have their photo taken with in between their on-court appointments.
The girls competition was a round robin affair with Everton standing head-and-shoulders above the competition with seven wins out of seven whilst conceding less than one basket per game.
The thirteen boys teams were split into two pools, which were topped by Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers. Both teams did lose in the pool stages, but Newcastle finished a win ahead of Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur and Derby County in Pool A and Blackburn beat out Aston Villa in Pool B on head-to-head tie-breaker.
The title was claimed by Newcastle with a 7-3 victory in the final to bring to an end a fantastic day of action that saw each team win at least one game.
Theo Riley, a member of the victorious Newcastle team said: “Today has been an amazing experience. It has tested my basketball skills both mentally and physically. To win the whole thing as well was brilliant. Hopefully this programme will continue and I will be able to come back next year.”
England Basketball’s Pete Griffiths commented: “The partnership with the Premier League Football Clubs has led to an impressive number of new basketball participants. The PL4S program has shown that our accredited clubs can build effective partnerships with their football counterparts to attract new young people into basketball and then support them in their transition into the club.”
Josiah (top right), Theo (bottom left) and teammates with the trophy.
Well done boys, a fantastic achievement!
Final standings:
| U16 Boys | U16 Girls |
| 1. Newcastle United | 1. Everton |
| 2. Blackburn Rovers | 2. Stoke City |
| 3. Sheffield Wednesday | 3. Manchester City |
| 4. Aston Villa | 4. Hull City |
| 5. Everton | 5. West Bromwich Albion |
| 6. Tottenham Hotspur | 6. Arsenal 1 |
| 7. Derby County | 7. Arsenal 2 |
| 8. Hull City | 8. Tottenham Hotspur |
| 9. Stoke City | |
| 10. Wigan Athletic | |
| 11. West Bromwich Albion | |
| 12. Sunderland | |
| 13. Manchester United |
