Building the Basketball Workforce | 2024

The London Basketball Association (LBA) is one of the few charity organisations serving communities through the sport of basketball across the city. The motto behind the LBA is “basketball is the game, social change is the mission” and this is exactly what is reflected in each of their programs and charitable endeavours. Spanning from youth groups to adult teams, casual scrimmages to official leagues, the LBA has shaped what it means to build a community around the game. Driven by a passionate team dedicated to growing the organisation and making a difference, the LBA is seeking to expand its network of qualified ROCs: Referees, table Officials, and Coaches, all of which are critical to the sport and there is a huge lack of these professionals in our society. LBA has a robust set-up and has positioned itself to pave the way in turning around this common problem. This makes developing a community of qualified individuals in these fields key for people to get involved with the sport, and providing this opportunity to those who’d struggle to afford it on their own is a necessity. With that said, funding collected will be utilised to ensure qualification opportunities for prospective applicants to ROC roles and assist the LBA in accreditating over 150 ROCs throughout 2024. 

Case study 

    To illustrate the exceptional individuals of this qualification program, see Joshua’s story…

“Joshua, 17, had a difficult childhood due to domestic violence, poverty, and parenting issues. He suffered from bad health, depression and behavioural difficulties. He attended LBA basketball activities and became more healthy, confident and engaged. Our coaches — who come from a similar background and have the lived experiences of Joshua — encouraged him to attend sessions on a weekly basis and supported him to get qualified as a basketball referee. As well as playing basketball regularly, Joshua referees within the LBA and the wider basketball community on a regular basis, as he takes jobs across in his local area of Brent and Westminster, but also across London. He's only level 1 but has approached us to do Level 2 and progress up the pathway, maybe we will see him in the NBA stage one day!"

    Outcomes such as this highlight what the ROC program can do not only for the game of basketball but the lives of qualified participants. With this funding, the LBA will be able to continue improving the community of young people across London through basketball.

Other numbers and facts:

• 20 Youth Clubs have been knocking on our doors to provide them with Coaches, every month. This will allow us to certify people within their community and help make the sport sustainable for them.
• At least 10 games get cancelled each week in London and that's only within the 200 games per week we know about.
• We are working with the governing body to get our model replicated beyond London as this is a nationwide matter
• Our online platform, last season (2022/23), gave ROCs over 1250 job opportunities. On average, each job paying £50 for 1.5 hours.
• The 2nd most popular reason for young people to stop playing competitively is poor officiating.
• Here is a link to our model the "ROCFramework"