NBA star who played against legendary Michael Jordan praises Harrogate school's basketball success
Young sporting hopefuls from a Harrogate school have crowned their best-ever season with the aid of a top American basketball star.
Under the coaching of Voise Winters, a former player of the Philadelphia 76ers in America’s famed National Basketball Association (NBA), Ashville College’s junior and senior teams have achieved a 78% winning strike rate in all competitions.
The end-of-season highlight for Ashville College was the appearance by the school’s Year 7 and Year 8 squad in the final of the Jr. NBA League, run by England Basketball in partnership with the NBA.
The competition allows young players to represent one of the 30 NBA teams and Ashville doubled up as the Indiana Pacers for the season.
Coach Winters, who played against the legendary Michael Jordan in a professional career spanning 16 years, said: “Ashville College is the only school competing in this league which features teams from the county’s main towns and cities, such as Leeds, York and Sheffield, so it is a stand-out achievement.
"The competition shares Ashville College’s aim in promoting the excitement of the NBA and inspiring more children to get involved in basketball.
“The league also supports NBA values such as sportsmanship, teamwork, attitude, respect and healthy living through league games and other activities.”
Coach Winters, who was born in Illinois and stands 6ft 8in tall, added: “Since joining Ashville College and introducing basketball to the school curriculum just six years ago, we have seen a year-on-year increase in both its popularity and our success rate.
“And pupils are translating the skills learned through basketball to other sports, such as rugby and netball.”
Other season highlights included a third place for Ashville’s senior team of Year 11, Year 12 and Year 13 players in the Yorkshire region of the AOC (Association of Colleges) League.
The squad also won through to the quarter finals of the national cup.
Coach Winters said: "Our junior teams, featuring players from Year 8, Year 9 and 10, and Year 11, were all finalists or semi-finalists in their competitions, too.
"There is no shortage of home-grown basketball talent coming through the ranks."