London Thunder was established in September 2007.
The Director of Coaching is Steve Bucknall, the first Englishman to play in the NBA for the LA Lakers. He is ably supported by a highly qualified, experienced and committed voluntary leadership team. We are a strong team and fully believe that
Together Everyone Achieves More.
Since its inception in 2007:
- A membership of over 200 hundred registered players
- The development of 6 national league teams including junior and senior wheelchair teams, men’s and women’s local league teams plus CVL teams of various age groups
- In 2011 our U13 team were silver medalists in the national finals in only their second season.
- In 2012, our U18 team became National Champions in their first season in the Premier League.
- In 2013 our U14’s team was the silver medalist
- In 2014 our U18’s team finished third in the National Championship
- In 2015 our U13’s team finished with a bronze medal at the National Championship and our Wheelchair team finished with a silver medal.
- In 2016 our U14’s finished with a silver medal at the National Championships
- In 2017 Our U14’s once again made it through to Final Fours and finished with a silver medal
A significant aspect of our club is the acquisition of dedicated court space that continues to enable us to develop and strengthen our position as a leading club. In December 2012 we were approached by The Surrey Canal Sports Foundation, the charitable body overseeing the sports and leisure aspect of the New Bermondsey Regeneration. www.newbermondsey.com
We were offered the opportunity to take on a tenancy of a warehouse situated within the development location. This opportunity was on the premise that the new development (to include a 3,000 seat arena with show court) will become the eventual permanent home of the Club. The warehouse in Stockholm Road sits adjacent to Millwall Football ground.
In order to take up this offer we had to be able to equip the venue to a sufficient standard for us to deliver all aspects of basketball and to ensure the venue was accessible to all users. We achieved this by identifying and successfully working with a variety of key partners. As a part of our long term development plan we understand that in order to be ready to take up the tenancy in the Energise leisure complex and to be sustainable and self-sufficient we need to create a structure for basketball in our area to significantly increase participation and to feed, develop and sustain the club.
This opportunity offered a fantastic starting point on which to build. We have been able to create a unique venue housing 2 courts and a dedicated classroom space. This allows us to establish the area as a basketball focal point and use the coming years to ensure that when the Energise Centre opens, basketball is already a successful and recognised part of the infrastructure of the area. The venue was officially launched in July 2014.
