In any sport, a tough training session always needs a tasty snack to keep you going.
Milton Keynes’ biggest basketball club, the MK Breakers have gone one step further and has an entire international bakery giant on hand to make sure it stays ahead of the competition.
Baked goods and patisserie giant Brioche Pasquier sponsors the MK Breakers Community Basketball League (CBL), a central venue league that offers members of the Breakers’ six community clubs access to local competition on a weekly basis.
The CBL, ranging from Under 8s to Under 16s, has grown over the past three years from a vision of husband- and-wife founders Peter and Alyson Taylor had when they were asked to take over a small, parent-run basketball club back in September 2017.
They inherited a club of 40 children, playing out of Shenley Leisure Centre, and grew quickly to around 300 before Covid interrupted its development. After the pandemic, it came back stronger than ever, and today there are around 1,100 four to 18-year-olds playing basketball, including a strong talent pathway programme, as well as men’s and women’s senior teams.
“What we wanted to do at the start was simply give local boys and girls the chance to play basketball,” said Peter. “Most basketball clubs have top-down pyramids and we had a different vision. From day one we invested in coach- ing, but concentrated on making sure the kids had a good time playing basketball, having fun while also keeping them off the streets and in a safe environment.
“Sport is a vehicle through which children grow their self-confidence. Not every player might improve to the point where they will join our talent pathway, but it doesn’t matter. They come and play community basketball and go away feeling good about themselves, tell their friends and feel better on Monday at school.”
Ryan Peters Managing and Industrial Director at Brioche Pasquier said:
“At Brioche Pasquier one of our core values, what we strive to achieve, is to be part of the community that is close to our factories. We immerse ourselves in our locality and use our concept of ‘territorial anchorage’,to build relationships within the community and try to give a little bit back.
“This can be anything from working with local businesses, employing local people, or aiding local charity and community bodies. Being part of where we are producing is important to us, as it gives a sense of belonging and allows us to showcase who we are and what we believe in and when it comes to bringing communities together, what better than sport?
“That’s why working with the community arms of our local sports teams fits so well with what we do.
“The MK Breakers recent success and huge growth is testament to the drive and determination, of Peter Taylor and his team, and as such it was an easy decision to get involved, with over 1,100 young people in their community teams, we are very proud to be a part of the journey of this amazing club that is giving so much back.”
The CBL provides its own competitive environment for players to stretch themselves against others, and also doubles up as the club’s talent pool. And the success of the CBL has allowed the club, in just three short years, to become one of the strongest and largest Junior National League programmes in the country with boys’ and girls’ teams at every age group.
The continued growth and success of the programme has developed even further with the formation of two basketball academies, firstly with the 5D Academy (Shenley Brook End School and Hazeley Academy) and this year with MK College.
Peter said:
“The club has grown dramatically over the past three seasons, but with the lack of local facilities and the ever-rising costs of court hire, transport and staff, we find ourselves more reliant than ever on support from sponsors like Brioche Pasquier.
“Ryan and his team have been fantastic supporters, sponsoring both our community basketball kits and the CBL itself, and hopefully the relationship will continue to grow over the coming years. As well as Brioche Pasquier, Facilities Management Solutions and local radio station MKFM have also been great supporters and advocates for the work we are doing in getting these kids off the streets and into not only a sports environment, but a safe one. We are always grateful for any local support and would welcome the opportunity to talk with anyone who shares our values and concerns.
“The basketball world is taking real notice of us now. I genuinely believe that up to Under 14 we have the best junior programme in the country, and I believe that we will more National Champions in the coming years – at all levels. But we are struggling with facilities, both at the school level and equally important, it is embarrassing that a city like Milton Keynes does not have an arena with seating for sport.”
On the arena front, Peter and Ryan Peters have put together a local group including the then MPs, Iain Stewart and Ben Everitt and MK Councillor Jane Carr, to discuss and format a plan to build a dedicated sports arena Milton Keynes.
Peter said:
“It seems inconceivable to me that for such a forward- thinking city we have Bletchley Leisure Centre with a maximum capacity of about 300, which we sell out every game, and could probably fill twice over. We have a large UK construction company, Glencar, who have offered to build the arena at cost, but the starting point is land, and this is where we need the council to step forward. We have to think big, and we are trying to be a catalyst to make all this come together, but unless the council get behind the project, it will never get off the ground.”
