I appreciate that basketball is about as polar opposite as you can get to the average STW user, (and I’m sure some will argue the toss of funding it over the British golf darts water polo team) but if you loved the successes and spirit of Team GB during the Olympics the you can’t help but want to support this…surely?!

Don’t normally do these things (Government E-petition), but British basketball needs some support. Unlike almost all Olympic sports where the host nation automatically qualifies for the Olympics, the GB basketball team didn’t and had to fight tooth and nail in European tournaments over the last few years to prove they were good enough to compete with the world’s best teams. They did just that which was a massive achievement and despite not progressing past the prelim stages during the Olympics, they did get a win and did Team GB proud with their fight and competitive spirit.

Basketball is the 2nd most popular team sport with a hugely promising future in the Uk and to not provide any funding at all for the next Olympics is ridiculous.

What happened to providing a legacy to inspire the next generation?

Fund British Basketball

So they proved they were good enough to compete with the world’s best by not making it out of the prelims?

second most popular sport ? where do you get that info from?

This Govt was no different to the last.

The previous one use to confuse ‘investment’ with ‘spend’, and this one is no different. How can you have a ‘legacy’ when the majority of cash is used to support athletes, as in a ‘salary’.

I mean the initial round-robin stage during the Olympic tournament before the knockout rounds.

They got a win and missed out on beating Spain, the world no. 2, by a tiny margin. A few years back, GB weren’t even good enough to qualify for top end Euro tournaments, but with the help of London 2012 funding, they qualified to compete on the Olympic stage with the likes of the US, Spain etc.

Basketball is the 2nd most popular team sport

Yup right there in second place, Behind football, rugby and cricket.
And maybe others ?

Basketball is the 2nd most popular team sport

…in Spain

Basketball is the 2nd most popular team sport with a hugely promising future

You missed a bit out…

“Basketball is the second most popular sport for 11-15 year-olds in England, according to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport”

Why should the government pay for any Olympic sport?

Preaching to the converted OP :-/

Basketball is the 2nd most popular team sport with a hugely promising future in the Uk

whatever version of that statement has any truth in it, it seems to be one of those sports that doesnt need olympic money to grow any legacy, it already has a strong image/presence amongst the young.

They had a feature on Ch.4 news about funding, cycling has evidence that they have massively increased participation, basketball doesnt. Loads of sports are losing funding for underachieving, they want value for money out of a very finite pot.

its a business innit. You win medals, you get funding (ala cycling). get knocked out in the opening rounds, lose funding. Probably not right, but thats the way it is

Basketball is one of those sports which went on a last minute trawl of the US universities for players in the spring of 2012. Players who had been team regulars for the past five years were unceremoniously dumped for people who had never represented UK before, it has left a very bad taste with many.