A European Basketball Adventure for Stanley

The third week of June saw Stanley (Fourth Year) travel to Valencia to represent the London Lions in the JrNBA Under 15 European Championships, competing against the Israeli and Lithuanian national teams and the champion clubs of Spain, Italy and Turkey. The twelve-man Lions squad had been selected after two days of trials in May in which well over a hundred leading players from across London and south-east England competed for places on the team. 

After a three-day training camp at the Lions base in Stratford, the team flew out to Valencia for the tournament. Despite the fact that the Lions team had no experience of playing together, they competed well against more established teams, ultimately finishing in fourth place after a narrow defeat to the Lithuanians in the bronze medal match. Overall an amazing opportunity for Stanley and his teammates to test themselves against some of the best basketball players in Europe and a week they will never forget.