Once again this year has brought much success to the GLL and Aspire London Titans and we are deeply grateful and appreciative of the imperative ongoing support that our sponsors provide us with to ensure that we can continue to flourish as a club, promote the sport of wheelchair basketball and establish GLL and Aspire London Titans as the beating heart of a living legacy four years on after the immense success of London 2012.We continue to be the largest club in the entire South of England and the second largest in the Nation and this has been directly reflected in the number of teams that we have fielded from a performance aspect this season; in all possible National Leagues, from Premiership to Development, from two U19 teams to our U15’s team, our two Women’s League Teams (Division One and Two) through to the recreational teams that participate at weekly training sessions.
Our membership reflects a diverse demographic in every aspect and we have had the immense privileged of welcoming back players returning from professional contracts in Europe such as Matt Sealy (GB international and Paralympian), Tyler Saunders (GB international) and Simon Gibbs (GB Invictus Games Wheelchair Basketball Captain) as well as introducing brand new members to the sport, some as young as 10.
Yet again the club supported, motivated and actively facilitated a plethora of players in terms of accessing and being included in the Great Britain World Class Performance Programs (six on the GB Women’s program and five on the Men’s program) with experienced Paralympian’s such as five time Paralympian and Head Coach of the GLL and Aspire London Titans Ann Wild and newly appointed Division Two Coach and Assistant Premier Coach (Two time Paralympian and London 2012 Co-Captain) Louise Sugden leading the way. They were actively assisted by additional previous Paralympic athletes including the likes of Ade Adepitan and Matt Sealy.
SUMMARY OF TEAM ACHIEVEMENTS, STANDINGS AND MEDALS:- 2015 -2016
PREMIER DIVISION TEAM:-
Third position in the Premier Division National League Standings at the end of the season.
National Championship Bronze Medallists. Eurocup Division 3 Group H Third place..
Qualification for the Eurocup in 2017 confirmed.
FIRST DIVISION TEAM:-
Second position in the First Division South National League Standings at the end of the season.
National Championship Silver Medallists.
SECOND DIVISION TEAM:-
Fourth position in the Second Division South National League Standings at the end of the season.
THIRD DIVISION TEAM:-
Third position in the Third Division South & East National League Standings at the end of the season.
FOURTH/ DEVELOPMENT DIVISION TEAM:-
Third position in the Fourth Division Group H National League Standings at the end of the season.
WOMEN’S DIVISION ONE TEAM:-
Fifth position in the Women’s Division One National League Standings at the end of the season and guaranteed to continue playing in Division One of the Women’s League next season after winning their play-off match by 40 points at the National Finals.
WOMENS DIVISION TWO TEAM:-
Second position in the Women’s Division One National League Standings at the end of the season.
Women's Division Two National League Silver Medallists.
JUNIOR U19’S TEAMS:-
BOTH teams qualified from the Southern regional group in 1st and 3rd place respectively.
GLL and Aspire London Titans 2 went on to become National U19’s Silver Medallists
GLL and Aspire London Titans 1 went on to finish 8th in the country.
JUNIOR U15’S TEAMS:-
Finished 7th in their regional qualifying group and all those whom participated gained hugely from the competitive nature of the experience. For many of them it was their first ever taste of competitive wheelchair officiated basketball.
INVICTUS GAMES:-
The GLL and Aspire London Titans played an active role in assisting the preparation of the GB Invictus Games Team, with Head Coach Ann Wild inputting into their training and the Titans Players playing in pre Invictus Games friendlies. Special mention must be made to Simon Gibbs (GB Invictus Games Wheelchair Basketball Captain) and Nerys Pearce for their role in helping the GB Invictus Games Wheechair Basketball team secure the Silver medal.
As you can see the GLL and Aspire London Titans had a fantastic season across all divisions. The GLL Sport Foundation is proud to support the team and looks forward to seeing how the 2016/17 season goes.
