Basketball is to be given a major boost locally with the introduction of a brand new academy led by a former England professional player.
It will follow similar lines to the successful football academy run by Bracknell Town FC at Larges Lane which attracted a number of students from the United States.
The SB Group, owned by Bracknell Town chairman Kayne Steinborn-Busse, are supporting Bracknell Cobras Basketball Club by launching an academy based at Bracknell and Wokingham College, close neighbours of the football club.
Open to boys aged 16 to 19 - girls will follow next year - it will offer an extensive range of A levels, GCSE, BTEC L1, L2 & L3 courses, ranging from plumbing to engineering to IT, media or sport.
Students will be able to choose one or two year courses or even change the course after the first year.
The education will be combined with a sports performance programme led by Martin Amoo-Gottfried, head coach of the Cobras.
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The 46-year-old Londoner started his basketball career with Crystal Palace before earning a scholarship to Walsh University in American, where he gained an honours degree in computer science and maths.
On his return to the UK, he played professional basketball for London Towers, Manchester Giants and Thames Valley Tigers, as well as representing England on numerous occasions at senior level.
He has been an influential youth coach for many years with a passion for developing players.
Starting out as the Pirates, the John Nike-owned club changed to Tigers and then Thames Valley Tigers and put Bracknell on the national basketball map in the 1980s and 1990s, attracting big crowds each Saturday to the Bagshot Road sports centre.
The Tigers, with outstanding players like Paul James and Peter Scantlebury, were among the top clubs in the country and were crowned league champions in 1994.
However, in the new millennium the successes dried up and the team became too much of a financial for John Nike and in April 2005, he announced that he would no longer provide funding.
Tigers fans obtained permission from the British League to enter a new team in their place and this led to them forming the Guildford Heat, the town where the club had originally started out in 1975.
The college boasts a modern court with scholars also having access to a strength and conditioning programme, as well as a physio.
Guidance will be given to players seeking places at college in the USA and Europe, as well as potential scholarships to UK university basketball programmes.
Gottfried will work with players on the physical and mental developmental aspects of the game whilst encouraging them to study for coaching and officiating qualifications.
More information is available via email to martin@p1aymaker.com and www.activatelearning.ac.uk/courses/sport/bracknell-cobra-s-basketball-academy-1
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