ORIENT’S EMMA IS HAVING A BALL!

LOCSP Press Release: Thursday 9 April 2009

ORIENT’S EMMA IS HAVING A BALL!

For Emma Omo-Bare, Basketball Development Officer for Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP), the past few weeks have been a busy time – not least last weekend.

Emma, 25, also plays as a power-forward for the Brixton Lady Topcats and was in Derby on Saturday for the England Basketball Division 2 Women’s Playoff Final against Wellingborough Phoenix at the Moorways Leisure Centre after finishing second in the league and beating Stockport in the early play-off games.

In a tense and pulsating game Emma and her Topcats team ran out 74-73 winners with MVP and Topcat court captain Rochelle Davids (18 points, 10 rebounds) final jump shot on the fourth quarter buzzer taking them to the honours.

“I had never been in a pressure situation like that before - I got fouled to the free throw line at 73-72 down with 0:25 on the clock, but missed both my free throws,” explained Emma, speaking a few days after the result.

“We had to stay calm as we were only down by one – we had about 100 Brixton supporters there who were going crazy including our men’s team who were playing after us.

“There was a lot of panic from both sides at the end; there were steals, turnovers, missed free throws – the whole package, but with six seconds to go Rochelle drove to the basket, took a jump shot and the ball went in on the buzzer.”

The result now means the Topcats will face the best players in England in Division One.

“Division One is where the England and GB players play and I am looking forward to testing myself against them,” explained Emma who lives in Manor Park and can name Hackney, Youngbloods and Lea Valley as her previous teams.

“Our team are all around the same age and looking forward to the challenge – this season has seen a lot of old faces come back to play after finishing university courses and the like and we have got a lot to prove to ourselves and to show what the Brixton Topcats are all about and I think we have done that.

“Our coach Michelle Brown is a former international player who has played in the United States, and is a great inspiration to us all, always telling us that if we ‘buy into the system then we will be Number 1’.

“She has showed us things we have never seen before and, as players, it has been hard to adapt to them - but we have and this promotion highlights that.”

With success at elite level Emma’s attention now turns towards training and coaching the next generation of players at a Basketball and Handball Easter Half Term Camp at SCORE in Leyton next week.

Starting on Tuesday 14 April the camp takes place from 10am – 3pm every day until Friday and is open to boys and girls aged 5-14.

“The Basketball and Handball camp represents an opportunity for everyone from beginners to advanced to soak up a huge amount of knowledge from both sports to take away with them,” explained Emma who also runs a Mini-Ballers session at SCORE every Saturday morning.

“On the Basketball coaching side we have a former NBA and current National League player Robert Youngblood alongside me and Derek Edwards, who played National League for London Towers, Hackney White Heat and Brixton Top Cats.

“Coaching Handball will be former Slovakian international Handball player and Community Coach of the Year Miriam Pupalova alongside Anne Patterson, a former England and GB player. It really does represent a great opportunity for young people from across London to learn from those who have played at some of the highest levels in their chosen sport.

“Some of the players who play Handball can bring their skills into Basketball and vice versa so the players as well as the coaches can exchange ideas and skills.”

Once the camp is finished Emma will turn her attention to the summer – a busy period for sport normally, not least for basketball.

“I believe by the summer that Basketball at SCORE will be seen on a different level,” enthused Emma, who also coaches the Youngblood U14s Boys Basketball side.

“My team at LOCSP and I are working extremely hard behind the scenes - planning, meetings and looking at ways of creating new opportunities not just for young children, but for young adults too.

“We are looking not just at training, but open runs – we want young people to just come, play sports and go home. We are also looking at U14, U16 and adult summer tournaments and making SCORE a summer hub for Basketball in this part of London – the Tuesday night ‘Open Run Scrimmage’ that we have just started at SCORE has really taken off and is evidence that this area is a real hotbed of ball players.

“There are a lot of challenges ahead but I am always learning as a player and a coach. Winning the play-offs has given me a lot more insight into the world of basketball but being able to impart my knowledge, experience and skills into the next generation is really what it’s all about for me.”

For more information about Basketball and Handball at Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme please contact Emma on 020 8556 5973, email emma.omo-bare@locsp.org or visit http://www.locsp.org/

Notes
1 England Basketball match report of Topcats victory: http://www.englandbasketball.com/news/default.aspx?newsid=1783

2 FIBA Stats: http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/123/00/62/56/820bwd0HRAI