Huddersfield-based West Yorkshire Hawks basketball team are aiming for promotion in the national league after narrowly missing out last season.

West Yorkshire Hawks are based at the University of Huddersfield and the home games are designed to be fun occasions and family experiences involving children’s games, singing and dancing as well as the serious match at the centre of it all.

The Hawks were co-founded by Greg Dolan and Mark Mills.

Mark, who has been involved in basketball for 40 years, said: “People don’t realise that basketball is the second most played sport behind football for under 16s in the UK. This is because schools are so supportive and see it as a great sport for their gyms but, unfortunately, after then the sport is seriously underfunded.

“But now we are putting it right back on the sports agenda with West Yorkshire Hawks, providing top level basketball with the cost of living very much in mind.

“A family ticket is only £22.50 and for that people get hours of entertainment and it’s a whole memory-making experience for families that’s indoors out of the cold and rain.

“It’s an incredibly exciting sport to watch with 6ft 8in athletes sprinting up and down the court and showing incredible skill. It’s also fast, very fast. Every time a team gets the ball they only have 24 seconds to shoot so it makes it a non-stop rollercoaster of a game.

“We are really lucky in West Yorkshire that the University of Huddersfield has been so supportive and lets us play in their sports hall which can seat up to 850 spectators. It’s far and away the best venue in the league.”

 

 

West Yorkshire Hawks play in National League Division 3 in the northern section so is up against teams from Manchester, Sheffield, Sunderland, Stockport and Cheshire. If they win their division they will be promoted to National Division 2.

The team has won its two warm-up games before the season gets underway with an away fixture against Stockport Falcons on Sunday, September 29 and then a home national cup match against either Hartlepool Huskies or Team Sunderland on Sunday, October 6 at 5pm.

Adult tickets are £9.99, concessions are £7.99 with under 16s £4.99. People can use discount code HAWKS25 which will get them 25% off all tickets.

Sponsorship is absolutely vital for the sport and West Yorkshire Hawks’ main sponsor is Huddersfield-based digital agency Paladin Marketing along with Stafflex recruitment agency, also from Huddersfield, and the Drop Clothing streetwear brand from Heckmondwike.

Mark said: “Sponsorship is absolutely vital and Alisdair Straughan from Paladin has been incredibly supportive, also helping us to try to find more sponsors and investing both into the club while helping the West Yorkshire communities it represents. It’s just brilliant that local businesses are so supportive of our sport and I’m eternally grateful for their help.

“Basketball can do so much to help lives and I’ve seen it change young people’s outlook on themselves, their achievements and their communities so many times. It’s a sport that really can make a difference.”

 

Alisdair said: “Sport is an incredibly powerful way to bring communities closer and sports such as basketball need sponsors to support them.

“Basketball is played extensively in schools, is popular among many diverse communities and often also in areas of social deprivation. That’s why I think there’s a responsibility on businesses to help where they can to ensure that sports like basketball not only survive but thrive to become beacons of hope for the communities they represent.”

The Hawks have 16 players signed on, 12 can be picked for each game and five are on court at any one time. They have just made some exciting new signings including 6ft 8in centre Allie Fullah who has played at an elite level in the British Basketball League for several clubs and professionally in France.

They have also signed Jacques Misambu, a high-tempo, physical guard who played the past two seasons in Division One for the Bradford Dragons.

The Hawks also have a women’s team which plays in the Leeds local league and the hope is that it will have a national league women’s squad ready for the 2025/2026 season.

To find out more about West Yorkshire Hawks and book tickets go to West Yorkshire Hawks – Hawks are a national league basketball team in Huddersfield (wyhawks.com)

Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.

Images by: NINO TUGHUSHI.

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