Basketball Club
Affiliated to the English Basketball Association No.150
15th Anniversary Season
The team was initially based on the school team of that time, and grew to encompass other players as awareness of the team was developed. Over the years the Club has had many versions; Pete Burgoine took control of the Club upon Steve Bradley's departure in 1989 and led the club through some difficult times, including a merger with Wilsport Wollaston in 1990, this occurred due to the success of many of the young founder members of the club being attracted to a new national league set up in Northampton, that almost sent to the Club into oblivion. Merger with the Wollaston Club brought the critical mass of players back to a sustainable level, this association ran until 1992 when due to league rule changes, the lost players returned.
As the Clubs ambitions grew and a team was entered into the Leicester League for the first time, for 2 years the Club flourished, attracting many players to play at the higher level offered by the Leicester League, however the higher expenses of this league led to a troubled financial period, the Leicester League was dropped from the programme and once again the Club found itself rebuilding from the bottom, in 1995 the Club entered the fledgling Peterborough League, and began a long association with this League.
In 1996 Wellingborough Phoenix Basketball Club rose from the ashes or a Club in financial turmoil due to the prohibitive costs of playing in Wellingborough. John Charman and Pete Burgoine ran the Club together offering a new structure, a new name, a new venue and new competitions as the Club tried to expand on a grand scale.
National junior competitions were entered under the tutorage of John Charman, while it was a very ambitious programme and ultimately proved to be too much too soon, but for 2 years did offer a real attraction helping many local kids to get into the game; there were some individual successes as it lead to the development of a number of young players who have gone on to the highest level within the game in England.
In 1999 Wellingborough Phoenix Basketball Club again came under the sole guidance of Pete Burgoine who since then has continued to develop the Club and its players, leading to a landmark for the Club in 2000/2001 when the Club won the Northants Cup, the first silverware in a major competition, this proved to be a good omen as during the 2001/2002 season the Club having continued its progress in development winning both the Peterborough Trophy and Dave Owen Trophy, as well as being runners up in the Northants League play-offs.
During the 2002/2003 season the Club continued its progress as the newly named "Flames" took 4 titles including the Northants League for the first time ever, they completed a League and Cup double with a convincing win over Sponne at Daventry. The Peterborough Cup was won after close wins over the top 2 league teams to make it to the final, another convincing win over March gave them the title. Finally the Club retained the Dave Owen Trophy at the end of season tournament by going unbeaten all day. In a further sign of progress the "Fire" made it to the Peterborough Plate final, coming up short against Nene Valley.
The question now is, can it get any better next season?