Whilst many of the WBBL’s top talents have been able to enjoy some form of an off-season, for those selected to represent England and Scotland at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games there has been no respite at all, as preparations for the 3×3 competition have continued at a pace.
The WBBL will be strongly represented in this prestigious competition – the 22nd Commonwealth Games – which features 3×3 Basketball for the first time ever, as Shanice Beckford-Norton, Kennedy Leonard, Hannah Robb, Claire Paxton and Sian Phillips were all selected for the final four-player rosters for their respective countries, with Abby Lowe confirmed on the reserves list for England.
Whilst England and Scotland have been drawn apart in both the Men’s and Women’s competitions for the pool stages, if both are to match their ambitions and challenge for medals then there is a real chance they could face each other in the knockout stages of the competition.
We caught up with Beckford-Norton and Leonard ahead of the Games getting underway in Birmingham on July 28th – with the 3×3 competition running from July 29th to August 2nd – to look ahead to what is set to be an epic competition.
“There’s a lot of excitement for sure to be able to represent England in the Commonwealth Games.” London Lions Captain, Beckford-Norton said. “I’m not too nervous at the moment, because we’ve done a lot of work to prepare and make sure we’re ready for this.
“I’d say this is my biggest achievement to date. I’ve played in the Youth Olympics in the past in 3×3, represented GB’s senior team in 5v5 and 3×3, gone undefeated with the London Lions this past year, but I’d definitely say that this is top of my list.
“I’ve grown a lot as a player by playing 3×3, and become more of a leader through this game whilst having to pay more attention to technical and tactical details. Whilst I am captain of the Lions, we have a point guard in Kennedy Leonard and a great coaching staff who do a lot of the thinking for me, but in 3×3 I’ve had to shoulder more of that responsibility myself and I’ve enjoyed that a lot.
“We expect to perform well and we’d be disappointed if we let our hard work go out of the window at this point. We’re right where we need to be and we’re going for a medal, for sure, but we just want to be better than we were the last time we stepped on the floor, and we’ll leave everything out there to achieve our goals.”
The reigning Play-off Final MVP, Leonard, will look to help lead Scotland to glory alongside a roster full of WBBL talent, as she discussed how excited and keen to enjoy the moment she is ahead of the action tipping off in Birmingham.
“My emotions and thoughts are really all over the place! I have no idea what to expect and what to think, but I do know I am so excited for the opportunity and for the chance to represent Scotland on such a massive level. I want to enjoy every moment and not put too much pressure because that can take away from the fun and the moment and I want to soak it all in!
“3×3 is so different than 5×5. Of course, in normal 5×5 practice you play a little bit of 3×3 to work on different things but not with the rules that the actual game of 3×3 incorporates. I think your game can grow in a myriad of ways. You have to learn to play quicker, make quicker decisions, you have to be smarter, and you have to know when to use energy and when to conserve it.
“We are going in with the expectation that we can compete and win a medal but at the same time, like I said earlier, we all want to have fun and be able to represent Scotland in a way that fans and admirers can look on and be proud of.”
On that tantalising prospect of two of the most highly-regarded players in the WBBL going against each other on the court at some stage during the competition, Leonard added:
“I would absolutely love to play Shanice! For some reason we are usually on opposite teams in Lions practices, so we should be pretty used to it by now. We probably know each other’s tendencies better than the back of our hands, but regardless of if she is competition or not, Shanice is family to me and I’m going to be rooting for her to crush it and do incredibly well.”
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games get underway with the Opening Ceremony on July 28th, with 10 days of sporting action following until August 8th. The 3×3 competition takes place at Smithfield, running from July 29th to August 2nd, and all of the action will be available to watch via BBC iPlayer.