A BASKETBALL club is appealing for help finding a new venue.

The Didcot Devils were formed in 2009 with six members and now boast 80 players across six age groups.

Teams play their home games at Wallingford School and head coach Serguei Terekhov insists they need to find a permanent home.

He said: “We are made up mostly of young people from Didcot, and at the moment we face an enormous problem finding an affordable training and match venue in the town.

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“All of our growth last year was from people coming from 10 to 15 miles away. It’s meant to be for young people in Didcot.

“We provide a sporting activity for children rather than going out on the streets after school.

“The club has huge potential but we can’t expand it at the moment.”

The club trained at Willowbrook Leisure Centre until May 2010, when SOLL Leisure increased the price of hall hire for the local team.

Oxford Mail:

  • Didcot Devils. Back, left to right, are coach Mark Sheeham, Will Sheeham,  Henry Parlett, Ben Gatto-Smith, Ben McNally, Louie Grindey and coach Serguei Terekhov, with front, left to right, Jacob Dearman, Dan Archer, Matt Duley, Alex Marsh and Sasha Terekhov

The Devils have been using Didcot Girls School for their training sessions for the last three-and-a-half years, but Mr Terekhov said they could not bank on it being their permanent home for training and matches.

He said: “We cannot rely on the school to provide a facility. On many occasions we have arrived to find the hall taken for exams and we had not been informed. Last week our under-12 and under-14 squads were unable to train for important matches.”

The Devils have teams at under-seven, under-nine, under-12, under-14 and under-16 level, as well as a men’s team.

The club’s under-14 outfit compete in the national basketball league and last summer went up against sides from across Europe in an international tournament in Belgium.

Joanna Marsh’s two sons both play for the club and her eldest Alexander, 14, was one of the six founding members.

She said: “Alexander’s team play in the national league and are really going for it, but they don’t have the support and their training is so disrupted. It would help if schools or leisure facilities could get on board.

“In inner London there are academies that target social groups. An opportunity is being missed here.

“We are fortunate we have the means to travel to Wallingford but there are lots who can’t. Wallingford School has been great, but it’s supposed to be a Didcot team.”

Didcot Girls’ School headteacher Rachael Warwick said: “We always make it clear to the many clubs that use our sports hall that there will be periods where they won’t be able to use it.

“The needs of the school come first and when we have exams we have to use the hall for that.

“We are sorry we are not able to meet the needs of the club and I very much hope they find a home that allows them to access those needs and expand.”


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