Sheffield Steelers

The last weekend was a very busy one for SSB Steelers. On Saturday, we hosted the second Fun Day with the Castle Martial Arts Club. More than 120 people spread the spirit of positivity, fun and motivation while playing basketball and doing martial arts. 6 teams entered the wheelchair basketball tournament, managed by Steelers players and enjoyed a healthy sport competition. Several people from Castle Martial Arts showed in exchange what their sport is all about via demo's and introduction by Master Robert Sheehan.

The main content was people had a great day, got to know and respect each other. The partnership between Castle and SSB Steelers continues to thrive and the event looks to be repeated in 2011.

The following day, Sunday was then all about a proper start in the league 2010/ 2011. All 4 national league teams competed against Wolverhampton Rhinos in Superleague, 1st Division and 3rd Division. 

The kick off was made by Team A, 1st Division, coached by Tina Gordon. Although Steelers had an early lead they could not maintain their form and lost to Rhinos 2.

The Superleague followed, coached by Steve Owen and Kev Hayes, their debut game so to speak since the two player coaches took on the job a couple of months ago. The healthy spirit and great coaching they introduced in training in months before showed on court as the team competed brilliantly against last years play off winners Rhinos, who have a majority of GB internationals in their squad. Again, the SSB Steelers lead early in the game with holding the performance for the majority of the game, only to lose in the last minute by 1 point. A great performance nethertheless and leaves to look forward to great competitions from this team.

The third game of the day was played by the 3rd division, with several novices to the game. Coaches Jess Pilkington and Colin Price embraced their new roles for this team and led the squad to a fabulous win over Rhinos 3, who could not match up to the speed, experience and shooting ability of Steelers 4. This gave all SSB players the possibility for valuable court time and new player Stephen Birkby scored his first game points.

The last game of the day was played by fire starters Team B of the 1st Division, coached by Kev Hayes who helped out due to Coach Mo Hammerton's work commitments. The team had won 21 consecutive games to date, and anticipated the difficulty being newly promoted to play last years play off winners Rhinos 2. However, Steelers got off to a great start, finishing the first quarter 18 - 6. The lead could even be extended to 18 point until the middle of the second quarter. The experienced Rhinos did find an answer with an effective press against the young SSB Steelers squad, causing several turn overs by missed passes and shots. The pressure worked and Steelers lost the 3rd quarter 5 - 19. Steelers did not manage to regain the stability and ease of the first half and lost the game by 3 points 52 - 55. Nethertheless, the performance was outstanding for large parts of the game and leaves to look forward for the return match.

Scoring: Harry 15, Terry 11, Joe 10, Manja 8, Maddie 4, Mark & Jack 2 each

Rhinos - T.Budd 13, S. Thomas & D. Peasley 12 each, Fossy 7, R. Seargant 6, T. Docherty 5

All in all, a great day for SSB Steelers who showed great competitiveness and spirit against Wolverhampton Rhinos, who have dominated the league in recent years. Congratulation to the Rhinos teams for the fantastic come backs in 3 games and we are looking forward to the return matches on the 4th December in Wolverhampton.

PS: match reports for the first 3 games will follow soon.