Hey everyone just giving a quick update on the program. Last Wednesday myself (Ben) and Kyle went to Aquinas Diocesan Grammar School for our first session there. Aquinas is different to a lot of other schools we work with in that it has an established basketball program going back years. As a result we were very impressed when we got there at the quality of the facilities and the skill level of the players. This meant we got to run fairly advanced drills from the off, which was a pleasant alternative to the fundamentals-based sessions we normally run with players who are learning the game for the first time. Overall we were quite impressed by the kids involved and it looks like they could be a great asset to the program. We haven't had a chance to start working with Grovenor, the school with which they will be amalgamated, yet, so once that gets up and running the team should be a great asset to the program. In the meantime we are in the process of trying to get a challenge match for the Aquinas players against our Belfast Blazers team.

For the last two weeks now I've been doing one session a week with the younger kids in St. Joe's and I've been very impressed so far with what I've seen. I'm mostly concentrating on developing their fundamentals to make the transition easier for them when they eventually graduate to the Blazers team. So far I've found that a number of the younger kids are developing some of the basic skills of the game already, and shouldn't have any trouble making the step up when the time comes. Since these kids come along and watch our Blazers team train regularly, I'm glad to be able to give something back by giving them a chance to play some organised ball themselves.

That's all that's happening at the moment, but with a few projects in the pipeline make sure to keep up to date with all that we're doing.

Ben