The Leicester Cobras Wheelchair Basketball Club are a registered charity (No. 1020100) and as such we rely heavily on sponsorship and donations from companies, organisations or individuals. Unlike the running game of basketball, played by able bodied players, wheelchair basketball is a lot more expensive to compete in. The special wheelchairs which are used to play in the matches can costs in the region of £2,500 each; and each player’s chair is individually made to suit their own needs.

The Cobras have had very successful 2008/09 and 2007/08 seasons and gained promotion for two consecutive years. The Cobras 1st team are now in the GBWBA first division for the 2009/10 season. We currently have two teams competing in the national GBWBA league; the 1st team in the first division north and the 2nd team (for newer and inexperienced players) in the third division central. The cost of running a competitive wheelchair basketball team for a season is about £7,000. This cost covers things like court fees, referees fees, travelling costs, training cost and league registration.

This presents the Cobras with a fantastic opportunity but also a real concern over funding. The Cobras have a wealth of talented players and some of the younger ones are ideally placed to be in a position of being chosen to play for their county in the 2012 Paralympic Games. To do this though they need court time and lots of it.

Unfortunately for the Cobras several funding sources have just recently dried up. The Cobras are also finding it harder to access money from some funding groups, because of an increase in competition from other disabled sports groups who are preparing for the Paralympics. Because of this we have had to cut back on our training sessions just at the time when we need to increase our training sessions. This will have a very big effect on the players, especially the new and inexperienced ones that the Cobras are trying to develop.

The club’s former chairman Mike Foster said: "We want to give as many opportunities as possible as there are some great talents who have the potential to get to the Paralympics. We want to be opening doors for these talented boys and girls. It is a product of our own success, as we now have so many talented members. This is not about the club closing down, but having these opportunities that our members have never had before, and being able to grab them. We have really got this summer to sort things out, but we will be at a disadvantage, as time that should be spent training will be spent fund-raising."

With the 1st team having moved up to the first division the travelling cost have increased as we will have to travel as far north as Scotland to play one away match. So for the Cobras to be able to run two teams we are going to have to raise a budget of at least £14,000 per season. So as you can see it can get pretty expensive to put a team together.

The Leicester City Council and Leicester Leys Leisure Centre (the home base of the Cobras) have been and are continuing to be extremely supportive of the Cobras. We couldn't have got as far as we have with out their continued support and the Leicester Leys facilities are great for our club.

So the Cobras are appealing to the people of Leicester and Leicestershire for support to enable them to push forward and develop the Cobras into a powerful force within wheelchair basketball. If anyone would like to contact the Cobras about funding opportunities please contact Ian Trott (the clubs new chairman). The contact details can be found on the Contact the Cobras page.

The Leicester Cobras would like to thank the following (in alphabetic order) organisations for their support:

Arco Leicester

AXA Insurance Co

Bradley Whitfield’s Family

Bromakin Wheelchairs

Carnage UK

Easy Internet Solutions

Foundation Housing Association

Grassroots Grants

Hinckley and Rugby Building Society

Irwin Mitchell Solicitors

Kirby and West

Lafarge Aggregates

Leicester City Council

Local Network Fund

Lutterworth Rotary Club

NEXT Plc

Pukka Pies

Rothley and Soar Valley Lions

Royal Mail

Sportsmatch

Syston Mens Bowling Club

The Lord Taverners

The Store Room

 

Voluntary Action Leicester