Basketball gets a boost from Bovema/UK
UWIC Archers, who are playing in their first season in Division One of the National Women’s Basketball League, have won the support of a business that provides the team with two of its players.
The club – based at the UWIC Cyncoed campus in Cardiff – has won a sponsorship deal from Bovema/UK, Britain’s fastest-growing designer, manufacturer and installer of natural ventilation products and smoke control systems.
Shooting guard Sarah Wagstaffe and 6ft 3ins Latvian international forward Ilze Zekite, both UWIC Masters students, are regulars in the Archers side currently lying fourth in Britain’s Elite Women’s Basketball League Division 1. Both girls have recently been employed within the Bovema accounts division at its UK headquarters in Cathedral Road, Cardiff.
The 12-strong UWIC Archers squad also includes Great Britain’s Basketball captain Stef Collins, together with Australian ex-professional player-coach Trudie Hopgood. The majority of the Archers squad are students – UWIC have supported Stef and Ilze through academic-sporting scholarships – while other players juggle work, family and basketball to compete at the highest level.
The UWIC Archers train three nights a week, hold one video analysis session a week, often play two games a week – and also have their own conditioning programmes to complete.
The club is based at the Cyncoed Campus Sports Hall on UWIC’s award-winning sports campus, where the likes of Olympic long jump gold medallist Lynn ‘the leap’ Davies and Wales rugby legend Gareth Edwards both trained and studied.
Archers home games attracts a large family following with children involved in playing on court at half-time and meeting the players after each match, providing them with a real introduction to the sport.
Bovema/UK managing director David Fitzpatrick said: “We feel there is a close relationship between the attributes of a successful sports person and a successful business person and we have found people we employ who come from a strong sporting background develop into key members of staff.
“We are very proud to be involved with the UWIC Archers and the beliefs they hold. They deserve some financial support for the fantastic season they had last year and, hopefully, this support will help them this season as it’s a big deal to be playing in the highest possible league there is.
“We hope through some awareness people will understand that maybe playing sport is not only great fun, but can also give people skills which can be used within the commercial world with great success.”
