On Monday 16th November, ’09 Shelley was invited to Holy Trinity School to experience the Crawley Cagers Basketball Club in action.
Lots of exercise, discipline and guidance given by coaches Kevin & Alex
Upon arrival at Holy Trinity’s sports hall, positioned at the rear of the premises, we were welcomed by Cliff Youngman, Chairman of the Crawley Cagers Basketball Club who showed us around. We found the sports hall to be clean, freshly decorated, well equipped and very spacious. The basketball players were showing off their skills with the ball and ‘shooting hoops’. The boys playing at the time were the under 18′s although some were up to 6ft 8in tall!! A good start to a potential career in basketball if you ask us 
Being a member of the Crawley Cagers Basketball Club does not just benefit the children as far as exercise is concerned, they also gain direction, discipline, control and guidance from their peers. Cliff told Shelley he felt the children are better off here, having fun and building a potential career in basketball. Much better than being on the streets, possibly getting up to no good.
Crawley Cagers U18's on the court at Holy Trinity School
We spoke to Alex Usayi, a trainee coach in his third week with the club, who told us “it is a fantastic experience. The boys are amazing and it is a pleasure to work with them. I feel they have alot of potential and could go far as a team and individually in the future.” Alex went on to say “I have played basketball all of my life, so this is a great way of giving something back to the sport and in turn, contributing to the community. I love the sport!”. Cliff, who arranged for Alex’s contribution to the club, told us some of the older boys also give back to the club by teaching the young ones.
The head coach, Alex was too busy with the team to talk to us, but we feel he would have mirrored Alex’s comments.
The club receives small funding grants from the local council but depends mainly on the generosity of schools and leisure centres for premises and sponsorship from local companies to keep up the quality of service to the youths and the club facilities. Cliff told us the clubs greatest wish would be to obtain a minibus to transport the club members to tournaments, some of which are quite a way out of town. If anyone knows a way of making this a wish come true for this wonderful group of individuals, please contact Cliff Youngman via their website. Cliff wants to say a big thank you to Holy Trinity School for their generosity.
We spoke to Cliff in length and took some footage of the young men in action.
We would like to wish Cliff, Alex, Kevin and the members of Crawley Cagers Basketball Club all the best for a bright future!
Sign up to the Crawley Happy Times for all the latest news.
[...] seems I can't go anywhere online to any of my networks without seeing advertisements or invitationsCliff Youngman Chairman of Crawley Cagers Basketball Club …Cagers Basketball Team in Crawley invited Shelley Fagence-Traynor down to show off their talents on [...]