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I started playing basketball in Milton Keynes when I was 12. There were no outdoor courts, no junior clubs to play for, and no pathway to the next level. A bunch of us used to meet at Shenley Leisure Centre for an hour on Saturdays where we would play games for an hour. This would not really be coached, more supervised by one of the senior players that would hire the hall after us. These were good times, where I would watch the NBA highlight tapes one after the other all day waiting for the Shenley session to come. These were the days of Michael Jordan so everyone would come to the session wearing the best Jordan apparel they could get their hands on to play in. Every week trying to imitate that move you saw him do or jump higher every time you stepped on the floor. Swapping highlight VHS tapes with your mates of NBA stars, which are now legends of the game. It was not until a few years later that Jesse Cousins started the Shenley Bulls Basketball Club (later to become Shenley Scorpions) where he and Geoff would coach us at Shenley on a Saturday every week. I think at one point he wanted to call the womens team at the time the Shenley heffers but this was not the best move and it did not last long, but neither did the womens team.
Problem was in those days there was very little in the way of progression, if you were good for your age the only option would be to play for the mens team in the local Northampton league to gain game experience. This was never a good idea as it was basketballs equivalent of Sunday league football and not the most educational environment for a young player. If you wanted to play national league ball in your own age group, you would have to travel to Northampton to play for them, which a few players did for many years until MK Lions started their national league teams. Most players were self taught at my age as we did not have a lot of people that knew anything about basketball, let alone coach it. Jesses club really helped some of mine and all of the players younger get the coaching we really needed. I took over from him in 2002 just before the first year of the BJBL which again was a leap forward for MK in its basketball development.
Now look at Milton Keynes
.every age group represented at club level, national league champions, Bucks Junior league, county progression, APC Players and even England players. I believe that Shenley had a huge part in all of this. People still think basketball is a new thing but if you look around it has been around a long time, its just gotten big enough now for people to notice. I mean look, I started at Shenley at 12 and now Im 30, you do the math. I look at how Shenley is now evolving with its increased number of players that are of a better standard each year, more coaches than ever before, and a lot of those coaches like me making the move from being a former player to coach. This is a great achievement that has taken a lot of hard work from all the volunteer staff at the club over the years.
So, you now know a little bit more about Shenley from its humble beginnings through the eyes of this old Shenley original. I hope it keeps getting stronger and will always be remembered by its members and friends.
Liam
If you want to keep up to date with everything Liam is doing down in Bristol then look out for his next instalment each month!
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