British Wheelchair Basketball Launches Uk’s First Professional Para Sport League

British Wheelchair Basketball (BWBB) has launched a ‘game-changing’ new Women’s Premier League. The move will herald a first-of-its-kind elite competition women’s wheelchair basketball in the world, and will also create the very first professional para-sport league in the UK.

BWBB says the move will ‘signpost’ the UK as a destination for elite competition in the sport, as well as for aspiring female talent. 

As part of the creation of the league, BWBB has announced four new High-Performance Partnerships with universities across the UK. New centres of excellence for both men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball will be created at Cardiff Metropolitan University, Loughborough University, University of East London and the University of Worcester, as well as franchise teams for the new women’s league. 

The inaugural season will run from December 2021 to May 2022.

“I am absolutely delighted to be announcing the creation of British Wheelchair Basketball’s Women’s Premier League and our new High-Performance Partnerships,” said Lisa Pearce, Chief Executive, British Wheelchair Basketball.

“The league will provide incredible opportunities for elite female talent, both in the UK and internationally and we expect the teams to attract the best players in the world.

“We have selected four fantastic universities to become the first British Wheelchair Basketball High-Performance Partnerships and these hubs will be absolutely central to the sport as we work to deliver our World Class Performance Programme strategy. They will nurture talent and facilitate the opportunity for world-class athletes to adopt a dual career approach. 

“Today is an important moment in achieving our big ambitions for the sport and working with the universities is central to raising the profile of the sport, building new audiences and creating more opportunities for people to play across all levels.”

Great Britain’s Wheelchair Basketball player, Amy Conroy (above), added: “The introduction of the Women’s Premier League is massive for the sport and for us as players. Historically there has been a bit of a gap in elite level competition for female players so I’m absolutely thrilled that British Wheelchair Basketball are ensuring we have equal opportunity to develop and flourish.

“The sport is fast-paced and high-octane, and I can’t wait for more people to be able to watch us in action. I hope that it will also challenge misconceptions about disability sport and inspire more people to try wheelchair basketball for themselves.”