Support our elite Welsh basketball club Post-Covid

Our Story:

Before COVID brought the season to an abrupt and premature end, the Cardiff Met Archers WBBL (Women’s British Basketball League) team had welcomed growing crowds at Archers Arena, introducing many local school children in the hope of inspiring the next generation of basketball players in Wales. These elite players have worked tirelessly on and off the court, reaching out to the youth in our communities and in schools to help promote this exciting sport and its growth from grassroots through encouraging players to achieve their aspiration for National representation at home and overseas.

This sole Welsh basketball franchise has engaged with the community through school visits and festivals, and the players have become role models, sharing their love of the game and have seen growing number of girls becoming involved as WBBL fans, as players in friendly tournaments, or just enjoying a family fun day out at Archers Arena.

As we start the process of assessing how this decision affects all of us – for Cardiff Met Archers club, staff, players, volunteers, partners, sponsors, the wider community and you our valued supporters – now more than ever before we need to call upon our Archers family for your continued support through this difficult time.  

With very limited income generation from ticket sales, camps, festivals, or merchandise and other revenue streams for this season, we now face huge challenges, along with other semi-professional sports clubs.

The money fund-raised via crowdfunding will be used to support our community outreach programme along with our game day events. It will also support the on-going running costs for the club and provide opportunities for our WBBL players to up-skill via CPD workshops.

Testimonials:

“Howell’s School have loved establishing a link with the Cardiff Met Archers over the past few years. A huge component of getting young children into sport outside of school is the ability to watch and interact with role models. The girls here at Howell’s have had the chance to do just that and always enjoy meeting the WBBL team and taking part in their workshops at school. The offer to then visit the Archers Arena, gain a greater understanding of the game through the festivals and then watch the Archers playing WBBL games at such a high standard has been amazing! We now have a growing number of girls involved with the Archers in a wide variety of age groups and I hope to see this continue to flourish for years to come!” Chris Baker - PE Teacher - Howells School, Cardiff

"The school has loved the taster sessions with the WBBL team from Cardiff Met Archers. We were amazed at how quickly the children’s skills were developed and they really enjoyed the fun and challenges at the assembly. If that wasn’t enough, some of our children were lucky enough to go to a WBBL game and even get a shout out during the game! Diolch Archers! – we’re all eagerly looking forward to your next visit!" Peter Roderick, Deputy Headteacher, Radnor Primary School, Cardiff

"As the Sport Cardiff Community Physical Activity Coordinator (Women and Girls) I have worked in partnership with the Cardiff Met Archers WBBL team over the last 4 years. During this time I have received a great deal of support and worked collaboratively to extend opportunities for women and girls from Cardiff to engage with basketball. The WBBL coaches and players have visited a number of primary schools across Cardiff and acted as an ambassadors for the Girls Together campaign. In partnership we have also delivered a number of WBBL festivals for girls and engaged large groups through Sport Cardiff events such as the International Day of the Girl festival, attracting 400 girls each year. The opportunities created have allowed girls to experience basketball not only as participants, but also as spectators with chances to engage in WBBL home games at Cardiff Met. Here they have received the opportunity not only to watch the event, but also to be mascots, meet the players and play in the half time period. The WBBL events have had a positive impact on developing the number of female players taking up basketball either as a recreational activity or as part of a local club and I look forward to continually supporting the initiative." Fay Benningwood - Sport Cardiff Community Physical Activity Coordinator (Women and Girls)