Welcome to the new season for the Community Basketball League. It’s been a challenging time for our sport over the past 6 months with the global Covid-19 pandemic throwing our game into unchartered territory, but we’re pleased and grateful to be able to confirm the 2020-2021 CBL season is on!
The season is planned to start in early November and run through to May 2021. We will, of course, be operating within Covid-19 compliance health and safety measures at the forefront of all of the games this season and adhering to all of the guidelines detailed in Basketball England’s RTP Guidelines, which all participating clubs are required to be fully aware of.
On behalf of the league and our management team, I’d like to thank you for joining us this season, whether as a team, new player, coach, official, supporter or fan of what we do, we appreciate your involvement and interest in England’s fastest growing basketball league. It is down to the hard work and commitment every week of you and all of the coaches and volunteers at all of our clubs that enables us to make the league such a positive experience for all of the players – which is what the CBL is all about. We are deeply appreciative of the opportunity to provide service to our community, the game, and ‘pay forward’ the investment into the next generation through our unyielding commitment to the grassroots game.
Our ethos is always to put the player first and prioritise their well-being above all else, and welcome all teams to our league who share the same ideals. For many of the players in our league, the CBL will be their first taste of ‘organised’ competition and we strive to make it the most enjoyable experience possible for them so we can work with you on helping them develop a love of the game that lasts them for life. This is the first step on a player pathway for a lot of young players. We want them to be not only sound athletes but great individuals that represent their families, their clubs, their local community and our league in an exemplary way!
We remain committed to growing the game and getting more young people playing basketball more of the time, providing a foundation for our sport to develop upon, both on and off the court. In addition to organising the games and managing the competitions, we work with our members in helping develop our member clubs so you can attract new players, new volunteers, new sources of income and invest time and resources into helping develop new skills off the court that will make your club stronger and more sustainable for the long-term. If you are running a club and are part of our league this season, please be sure to get in touch with us to find out how we are working to help your club grow.
For all teams playing in the CBL this season, it is essential that all teams commit to their fixtures for the season ahead in full. We will be running a tighter schedule, in light of the COVID-19 compliance measures we are implementing this season and can only successfully provide this platform with teams who ensure they are fully committed. This commitment includes confirming attendance at games with the league, turning up to games on time, and engaging with the league in a positive and co-operative manner. We are only as strong as the commitment from you and your teams in order to ensure all games run on time, every time and we ask all teams to respect and honour that by working with us to fulfill each and every fixture on your schedule.
As with all other leagues worldwide, we are all subject to potential disruption this season depending on how things progress with COVID-19. We will always put the health and safety of our players, coaches, officials and staff at the forefront of any decisions we make and take our direction from the governing body and relevant health authorities. However, we hope to be able to complete the season in full, with as little to no disruption as possible. We will be running the league in our own ‘bubble venue’ with strict arrival and departure times and reduced numbers inside the venues, with all of the pre-event and at-event COVID-19 protocols in place. Further updates will be shared with all successfully registered teams prior to the start of the season.
Finally, I’d like to officially introduce you to the league’s new Co-Commissioner, Steve Whyte. Many of you who played in the league last season will have seen Steve at the games, managing our media team. Steve has been around the game his whole life as a former player and event manager with strong organisational and communication skills across the board. We’ve got some great plans in-store for the league this season, many of which Steve will be leading on – so I’m sure you’ll join me in welcoming him to the league, in this new capacity, which is set to help us grow.
We believe this will be our best and most enjoyable season yet, despite the challenging times our sport and society in general currently face. Basketball can be a superb source of mental, physical and social health and we understand our role within helping you provide that to all of your players. We look forward to sharing the joy of basketball competition with you all and wish you every success for the season ahead…Let’s hoop!
Nhamo Shire
League Co-Commissioner
TEAMS WHO WISH TO PLAY IN THE CBL THIS SEASON MUST APPLY HERE: CBL NEW SEASON TEAM APPLICATION
PLAYERS WHO WISH TO PLAY IN THE CBL WHO DO NOT HAVE A TEAM TO PLAY FOR, MUST APPLY HERE: CBL NEW PLAYER APPLICATION
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO READ OUR FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS SECTION WHICH MAY ANSWER ANY QUERIES YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT THE SEASON AHEAD: CBL FAQS
