By Jamie Thomas
As the London Lions make WBBL history by becoming the first team to compete in the FIBA EuroCup Qualifying Rounds, their Head Coach Mark Clark and star guards Shanice Beckford-Norton and Kennedy Leonard were in tip-top form as we caught up with them to discuss what lays ahead for the 2020 Playoff Champions.
With a ball being yet to be bounced in anger in the continental competition, the Lions have already broken new ground by getting to this stage, but the true aim – qualification for the FIBA EuroCup Regular Season – would be an achievement of epic proportions.
Victory in a two-legged tie against SPAR Gran Canaria is required for the Lions to achieve that objective, with the first leg taking place on September 23rd at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, and Coach Clark discussed his emotions regarding the challenge that lays ahead.
“Excitement is the right word, because we’ve put an enormous amount of time and effort into making this happen. It’s not like any other pre-season for us, obviously, but we’re just trying to concentrate on the level of basketball we’re playing and the challenge and opportunity it gives us.
“It was a long time again when teams like Crystal Palace and so on played in Europe regularly from the UK, but it should be where we’re aiming to get back to with the WBBL and even having two or three teams competing at that level.
“To do it with the Lions, after many years of basing this team around an academy of talented youngsters, trying to compete in the WBBL, and now taking the club to another level, with the ability to give so many British players the opportunity to play in Europe, that’s a big buzz for me for all sorts of reasons.
“I’ve got so many options … and practice has been exciting to watch.”
Turning heads is something the Lions did at will last season, as they rocketed up the WBBL standings to become one of the most must-see teams in the league, winning two titles along the way as they bagged the WBBL Trophy and WBBL Playoffs in a fantastic year.
Quite how they could top that outstanding season and garner even more attention over the summer would have been a challenge only the ambitious Londoners could rise to, and they’ve done so with aplomb by confirming their European participation, alongside the additions of a number of incredible talents to their roster – the strengths of which, Clark detailed at length.
“Jo Leedham-Warner is a professional basketball player with a capital P, as is Azania (Stewart), and they’ll set the bar in terms of what it takes to play at this level, as well as their qualities as players. Add Holly (Winterburn) to that, who is one of the most exciting young players in the game, and another exciting former Barking product in Leah McDerment, and it is really something.
“We’ve added all that to a roster which includes the best British point guard there’s been for a long, long time, in Kennedy Leonard. GB hasn’t had a point guard of her calibre for many years, and then Shanice Beckford-Norton and Chantelle Charles as excellent local players gives me such a buzz.
“On top of that we’ve got Cassie Breen, who is a European-calibre shooter and will demand that defensive attention. There’s no substitute for out-working the opposition either, which is what Steph Umeh, Paige Robinson-Miller and Valentina Klocker add, so I’ve got so many options, and it does bring its challenges, but those are exciting ones to have and practice has been exciting to watch.”
“I couldn’t have written this story.”
One of the biggest ‘buzzes’ that Clark admits he gets from this experience is seeing those local players who he’s worked with from a young age within the Barking Abbey Academy set-up, come right the way through to this European level after working tirelessly to take their opportunities.
One such player is Shanice Beckford-Norton, who was a vital player for the Lions in their outstanding 2020/21 season, and she spoke of her journey from first being coached by Clark as a young teenager to now, and her hopes that she and her teammates can inspire young girls to follow in their footsteps.
“I would never have thought I would be in this position when I was 13/14 years old. Back then Azania was playing for Barking Abbey, too, so to have her as a role model to look up to and now be playing with her, alongside Chantel with Mark as my Coach, I couldn’t have written this story.
“I don’t take any of this lightly nor take any of it for granted and I want to make the most of this opportunity I’m having to be around all three of them, and the rest of the team in this experience. I hope our journey can raise awareness of what basketball can do for girls across the UK.
“I’ve grown up playing basketball everywhere I’ve been, and over the last year have heard from so many young girls that haven’t got basketball clubs in their schools or communities, so I hope that what we’re doing can change that and that more players or former players can inspire girls with the stories of what we’ve had from the game.”
“To be here and have this in front of us is so special.”
She’s only been in the WBBL for a year, but after a historic first season on a personal level, alongside the team’s success, there are few superlatives left to describe the qualities of Kennedy Leonard, and the point guard’s performances and leadership will be vital to the Lions in this European adventure.
Going into what could well be a relentless second season, with the potential for more history on the horizon, Leonard reflected on the achievement of the team being in this position and the moment of realisation that a European adventure was going to be on the cards for Year Two in the WBBL.
“I would have said you were crazy if you’d told me a year ago that we’d be in this position now, because this is truly how we hoped it would go but you don’t often get that in life, so to be here and have this in front of us is so special.
“Going into my second year, making history for the WBBL, making our own history as a club, signing a calibre of team that hasn’t been seen in this league before, it is something we’re really not taking lightly. I’m just trying to enjoy every second of it because it is a blessing to be here.
“When I signed here originally, Europe was mentioned as a prospect for the second year, and when it came to me re-signing for two years I was told that EuroCup was what we were going to do, but even then it was still one of those things that you never quite know if it will happen or not, honestly.
“Mark told us at the end of the season we were going after these incredible signings to build for the EuroCup, and then once they came in it felt real and that we were on our way. It was always an aim to happen, but it takes a lot to get there, and to be on the verge of it happening now is so great.”