Myerscough and Basketball England renew elite partnership

DiSE Partnerships are elite academy environments supported by multiple partners to deliver the Diploma in Sporting Excellence qualification.

“It’s a huge honour to be included as an England Development Program by Basketball England,” said Myerscough Programme Director Neal Hopkins.

“We’ve spent the last decade putting our footprint into British basketball—now into Europe—and we are committed to giving players the very best in academics, facilities, competition, and overall student-athlete experience.

‘’Our players – current and alumni – have helped shaped Myerscough and the values they’ve learnt here, and they’ve been able to pursue a variety of careers both as basketball players and employees because of the work that began here.”

Having been assessed against the Academy Delivery Standards, all DiSE Partnerships are deemed to be ‘Category 1 Academies’ and are committed to athlete development, welfare, and support, and will be working with Basketball England to stretch and challenge athletes under their care.

The DiSE Qualification forms part of Basketball England’s England Development Programme (EDP) Framework, which is made up of four elements: the DiSE Qualification, a full-time programme of learning (i.e., A-Levels or BTEC study), Level 2 coach/official award, and participation in the Elite Basketball Academy League or Women’s Elite Academy Basketball League.

For details of how to become part of the Myerscough Basketball Academy this September, click here, and browse study programme options here

Basketball England’s Talent Pathway and Programme Manager Sam Messam described the 14 DiSE Partnerships as dedicated talent environments with the highest level of athlete support and development, where the offerings aim to stretch and challenge elite basketball players towards growth and success, both as a basketball player and a student.

“The DiSE Qualification is a unique opportunity for youth basketball players aged 16 to 19 to continue to advance their knowledge and understanding of the game, compete at the highest level of youth basketball in England, and work towards their career aspirations,” said Messam.

“The 14 DiSE Partnerships have demonstrated their knowledge and expertise in talent development, and demonstrated the provision of high-quality facilities, equipment, and staff in support of basketball and athlete development and have the complete confidence of Basketball England.”

Those who have progressed through DiSE programme at Myerscough have gone on to play at various levels of the NCAA and NJCAA in America, as well as for professional and semi-professional teams in the British Basketball League, the National Basketball League and abroad in mainland Europe.

“Seeing guys like Mate [Okros] and Callan [Low] and how they went about pushing themselves was a huge benefit to everyone – knowing that everyone who enters the court has the same goals and will push everyone to have the same work ethic is a huge part of the programme,” said Myerscough alumni Amari Williams, who is currently playing at the NCAA Division I level with Drexel.

He continued: “The facilities at Myerscough are what gives us a chance to have success; knowing you’ve got the court through one door and the gym through the other, it just betters everyone and gets everyone prepared for the next step or the next level. It’s set up to show you what it will be like.”