Cheshire Phoenix head coach John Lavery is hoping that a renewed focus on youth development will stand the club in good stead in the future.
The Phoenix merged with the Cheshire Panthers junior set up during the summer and have teams competing in four national leagues; the under 18 North West D-League, U18 North Women, U16 Boys North Premier and two U14 teams in the North West D-League.
This season has seen U18s players Max Jones and Ben Goodacre join the first-team squad and enjoy playing time in the BBL, with both registering their first points in the professional ranks during the win over Leeds Force on Friday.
Jones and Goodacre were joined on the Nix bench by fellow U18 player Luke Gosney for Sunday's game with Manchester Giants, and Lavery is hopeful that a strong focus on developing local talent will pay dividends and help the club produce more home-grown stars in the future.
“We sat down in the summer and knew we had to build our programme from grass roots right up to the BBL level,” said Lavery.
“We knew it wasn't going to happen overnight and we have got an under-13s side right the way through to U18s, so it is good to have that grassroots and build them up.
“Ben, Max and Luke, they come to practice every single day, they work out with the guys and they are part of our family and it's good for them to make the progression from junior basketball to BBL level and see what it takes to be a professional basketball player.
“It's great for the organisation to be bringing this talent through and we're delighted with that.”
The current crop of Cheshire juniors have plenty of reason for optimism and need only look at one of their alumni, Olympian Jo Leedham, a former Panthers player from Ellesmere Port, who has gone on to enjoy a stellar professional career in the women’s game and now plies her trade with French EuroLeague side Bourges Basket and is a key part of the Great Britain side.
