British Wheelchair Basketball League – Sports report 1/12/2019 It was a day of mixed emotions and results for the Bears, who played their last set of home fixtures for 2019 and also their last games at what has been their home venue for the last 10 years. With the sale of the sports centre in Henley-in-Arden to Wasps Rugby Club, the Bears will have to find themselves a new venue to call home. Division One South Bears 2: 22 Thames Valley Kings: 61 This was going to be a very tough task for the Bears 2…
In a busy weekend of fixtures, that had five of the Bears’ teams in action in different leagues across the West Midlands, the Bears came away with a mixed bag of results. Whilst the National League teams played away against C.W.B.A., the club’s two development teams took the home court as part of the newly formed YBL Wheelchair Development League. Premier League C.W.B.A: 86 Bears: 52 The Bears Premier team had a disappointing game against the impressive C.W.B.A. team, who were once again brimming with young G.B talent. From the start the Bears were struggling with the speed and accuracy…
Lord Taverners Junior League Pool C Bears Cubs: 31 Swansea Fletchlings: 32 The Bear Cubs they travelled to the C.W.B.A home court in Coventry to kick of their season by taking on the host team and Swansea Fletchlings in the opening rounds of the Lord Taverners Junior League. In their first game of the day the Cubs narrowly missed out on chalking their first win in a single point loss to the Swansea Fletchlings. In a very tight nail-biting game, in which the Cubs fought hard for the lead against the Fletchlings, the young Bears side came up…
Premier League Exeter Otters: 57 Bears: 47 It was a mixed set of results for the Bears this weekend, as their Premiership team travelled to Exeter to play the Otters, whilst at the same time Bears 2 and 3 hosted Blackhawks 1 and 2 at their current home venue in Henley-in- Arden. The Bears Premier team again had an long distance journey to Exeter Otters who were promoted back into the top division after a couple of seasons in the lower division. From the tip the speedy Otters put the Bears under pressure by playing a full court pressing game,…
Premier League Tees Valley Titans: 75 Bears: 72 The Bears suffered another defeat this weekend, in a tough match with a limited squad. However, despite the defeat, a glimmer of hope for the future as the side continues to demonstrate dramatic improvement in their performance as the weeks go by. The Bears suffered added woes as they learned of the recent sale of their home court, resulting in the loss of the venue to the team of senior and junior athletes for future use. The Bears began their Tees Valley fixture with a performance notably stronger than any previously –…
Division 3 Central/South West Derby Wheelblazers: 28 Bears 3: 53 The Bears 3 made an emotional start to the season when they travelled to face Derby Wheelblazers. The last time both teams had met was at the end of last season, and was the game which had to be abandoned due to the tragic death of Colin Illac who had suffered a heart attack during the game. Both teams since have become close friends since and were determined to honour Colin with a minute’s applause before the tip-off. The first quarter was a close game with both teams unable to…
Premier League Bears: 39 London Titans The Bears were back in action returning back to the University of Birmingham Sports Centre to host the visiting London Titans. The Titans had newly signed GB Women’s Captain Helen Freeman playing alongside Television celebrity Ade Adepitan in their side and was this was going to be a tough challenge to the Bears who had still not had a win in the season so far In the first quarter the Titans took a firm grip on the Bears, playing strong at both ends of the court and providing very few chances for the Bears…
Premier League Northern Ireland Knights: 61 Bears: 56 The Bears played their first away game on Saturday as they travelled to Northern Ireland to take on the newly promoted Northern Ireland Knights who were last season Division one champions. With a very limited squad who were able to travel, this was going to take a major effort from the six players who were able to travel all the way to Northern Ireland. The Knights started the brighter of the two teams and quickly built a great lead in the first quarter, with Jason Kennedy and the speedy Matt Rollston…
Premier League Bears: 38 Sheffield Steelers 70 The Bears kicked off their season with a game against last season’s Champions and Eurocup winners Sheffield Steelers. A change of personnel for the Bears, following the loss of three members from last season’s line up, welcomed Macauley Tomlinson, Kelvin Jones and Sho Ayub to the court to face what was once again going to be a daunting opener for the team. In the first quarter the Steelers took a firm grip on the Bears, playing strong at both ends of the court and providing very few chances for the Bears to…
British Wheelchair Basketball League – Sports report 25th/26th May 2018 National Championship Play-Offs Division 1 Semi Final The Bears once again featured at this seasons National Play-offs, after Bears second team qualified after finishing second place in 2nd Division South and winning promotion to the B.W.B’s Division 1 League for next season. The First game of the weekend was a semifinal game against Lancashire Bulldogs who finished in first place in B.W. B’s Division 2 North league. Lancashire Bulldogs: 63 Bears 2: 69 The Bears won a place in the weekend’s final by the slightest of margins, in what turned…