What a Season!
The end of a fantastic season was wrapped up, with high league finishes, cup runs, medal finishes and National awards, as the upward trajectory of LDM Basketball continues.
The end of March saw the final games of our Junior National League season, where we had entered u18 men’s, two u16 boys and u14 boys into their first year of the Basketball England led competition. More than pulling off a few surprises, three of the four teams ended up with top 3 finishes in their respective league, with the U18 men and u16 boys I ending the season as runners up and the u14 boys finishing 3rd, only missing out on second place on a head to head, having finished level on points with the eventual runners up. This was Leeds LDM’s first year entering multiple teams into the Junior National League, which provides young players the opportunity to play weekly basketball games against clubs from across the region. The high finishes from our teams more than proved the need for this level of basketball to be made available this side of Leeds, as we continue to push for more talented young players to be giving the opportunity to play at the highest level possible. Alongside the National League we entered a Women’s team made up of female players between the age of 15 and 19, into the Leeds and District league. The players gave a good account of themselves against opposition who at times were twice their age, strengthening the argument for more basketball opportunities for women and girls to be provided in the region. We also managed to enter our first u11, u12 and u13 teams into CVL Competition.
In addition to our Junior National League and local league programmes, our 16-19 academy partnership with Leeds City College has birthed further success, as the women’s and men’s teams ended the season on a high in their respective competitions. The U19 men’s academy finished the season strong, with a semi final finish in the AoC Sport National Knockout Cup and a second placed finish in the AoC Yorkshire and Humber League 1, finishing level on points with the eventual winners Calderdale College, both teams recording an impressive 11-1 record. The women done the region proud at the AoC Sport National Championships, where they represented the Yorkshire region against 7 other regions from across the country. With 5 of the 7 players fasting for the month of Ramadan, the team finished in 3rd place in the tournament, picking up a bronze medal and providing Leeds City College with their first ever representation at a National Championship. We received further excellent news at the end of the season, as the men’s team beat teams from across the college sporting spectrum to win the Team of the Year award, whilst LDM coach and Leeds City College student Mohamed Alhaj picked up the national award for Inspirational Student of the Year. All this, without mentioning Let’s Do More CIC finishing among the finalist for the Sport and Recreation Alliances Community Club of the Year (attended by HRH The Duke of Wessex) and being Highly Commended as Sports Project of the Year at Leeds City Council’s Compassionate City Awards!
With all this success, it was only right that we celebrated an amazing season in style. The bank holiday weekend saw all the teams come together for our inaugural End of Season awards, with speeches form LDM staff and volunteers and multiple awards being handed out to players of each team to celebrate their achievements. The 21/22 season goes down as our first full season as a programme, with little doubt that it can be written as an overall success. We can now look towards building and creating more opportunities for young people in the Leeds region as we march into the 22/23 season full of optimism and the knowledge that our best years as an organisation are ahead of us.
