The BiG Storage Cheshire Jets, who play in Britain’s top pro-basketball league [the BBL] are proud to announce that they are about to expand their community programme into the Warrington area.   The programme has been running in the Chester, Cheshire and Flintshire areas since the beginning of the basketball season at the beginning of October 2007.

The programme will consist of the four following aspects:

• A Hoops4Health programme will be delivered into fifteen Warrington primary schools, reaching a total of 1500 children in total. Hoops4Health is a programme which takes participating pupils through a series of activities that cover issues linked to healthy lifestyles, physical activity and the importance of participation in sport. All lessons within the scheme have been tailored to the requirements of the National Curriculum, and will be delivered by the jets players and fully qualified Community Coaches. Paula Pearson, Partnership Development Manager for Warrington, was delighted at the news. “This is a really positive move for the Warrington Schools who are taking part. Hoops 4 Health is an excellent way to help achieve being healthy, one of the main outcomes of the Government Green Paper Every Child Matters. It is suitable for boys and girls to participate together which in itself is a good thing as it encourages respect between the sexes at an early age and integrates them into a shared activity.   We are really looking forward to working with the Jets who are really enthusiastic about the aims of the programme.”

• The formation of a new   Basketball Academy at Warrington Collegiate, a Further Education college with a 14,000+ students. It is envisaged that the Academy will involve a programme of training, matches and fitness and rehabilitation regimes run by Jets professional players and community coaches.

• Holding a Jets Easter basketball camp at the Birchwood Sports Centre on 1 st and 2 nd April. This will cater for young people aged between 8-18 of both sexes and all levels of experience and ability. This will be based the highly successful formula used at the Jets Summer Camps which have been held for the last ten years in the School Holidays with senior players and community coaches providing the expert coaching. [There will also be an Easter camp at Christleton Sports Centre Chester on the 26th & 27th March]

• Arranging for a Jets BBL Championship “home” match against their long time rivals, Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders, to be played at the Birchwood Sports Centre in front of 700+ fans on 20 th April 2008.

“These innovations are a very important part of our pledge to take top quality basketball and our community vision further into the county – as suggested by our change of name to the Cheshire Jets”, added Jets Director Pete Hawkins, and we are sure that the mutual benefits will very soon be apparent.”