Heat hope to capitalise on Olympic Spirit

The doors of Surrey Sports Park were today thrown open by the Guildford Heat for three free taster sessions on their home court.

Surrey Sports Park, which was home to many international athletes during the London 2012 games, has been the home for the Heat since 2010 and head coach Creon Raftopoulos hoped that today’s session, combined with Team U.S.A’s success at the games would encourage more youngsters to take up the sport.

“We’re hoping that the sessions will help sway the kids in the right direction and join other local clubs or indeed our club for the future seasons ahead’. ‘The advantage with basketball is that it’s play and play, creating pressure situations where people don’t have to play too much is what we try to aim for”.

The three sessions, which focused on all fundamentals of the game, including passing, shooting dribbling and stamina, were split into age groups. The first hour for 8-11 year olds, the second for 9-15 year olds and the third for women, and it’s the women’s game that The Heat are most keen to exploit.

“Particular regions are focused on particular sports and this region is very concentrated on netball so it’s kind of like trying to break their mould. You’ll find that you can break their mould easier at a younger age, but by letting them get involved and knowing all the rules, it usually helps to generate more interest”.

Raftopoulos was also keen to stress that despite the limited time available to them today, they do intend to open up more sessions later in the year when teenagers are back at college, where they may be able to call on the men’s side to act as tutors for the sessions and be able to give it a more professional feel.