Hey,

Summer (for us, at least!) is officially done! With the NBA x Foot Locker clinic we ran yesterday at Clapham Common, an events season that has seen us deliver something pretty much every single week for the last 3 months comes to a close, ending up with over 800 participants and 10,000 spectators. It's been epic, but I'm exhausted.

Hoping to get back to regular content programming again in the near future, including this newsletter, so figured would bang this one out a few days late!

This week's 3-pointer:

🇬🇧 Hoopsfix Elite beat California Basketball Club

Last time I wrote, we were preparing to play CBC at the Copper Box and little did I know what a monumental night it would be. Not only was the Copper Box sold out to the tune of over 5,000 fans, the game got a primetime broadcast slot on BT Sport 1 (as well as ESPNU in the US) and we managed to get the W! Will defo go down as a career highlight for me; fans were queuing hours before tip, and the atmosphere in there was nothing like I have ever seen at a British basketball event. It really re-framed in my mind what is possible...

☀️ Hoopsfix Summer Jam brings events season to close

Hoopsfix Summer Jam presented by Foot Locker saw the summer calendar of activity finish on a high at Clapham Common basketball courts in South London last Saturday. Featuring a 5-on-5 competition - the Clapham Common Cup, and a 1-on-1 competition, the King/Queen of the Trenches - it was the perfect way to finish the summer and was awesome to have such a great turnout. Summer Jam along with NBA 3X reaffirmed our choice to make the extra investment for bleacher seating at Clapham - British basketball is sorely lacking event venues, and creating spaces that cater to not just the player but the spectator is so important; it created unmatched vibes!

🇬🇧 GB Senior Men go 0-2 in Window 4

Nate Reinking’s side remain bottom of the second round group with a 1-5 record in World Cup qualifying, as they now head to Milan, Italy for the start of EuroBasket 2022 next week. A loss to Belgium on Thursday and then Latvia at home on Sunday has put them in a very tough position to have a chance of qualifying for the World Cup next year amidst an environment that has set them up to fail - two practices before the games while other teams have been in camp more than 2 weeks is not conducive to having any success. Need to take a long hard look at what we're doing with the national team programmes, as clearly, it is not working.

Anyway, that'll do the job for this week, if all goes to plan (!), I'll be back in your inbox on Thursday. As always, hit reply with any thoughts, questions or anything else.

With gratitude,

Sam