At that time the Sports Centre had no useable nets, so no basketball teams existed in the town which had in the past had an enviable reputation in the sport.
Marie then met Rhona Mackay whose boys already played basketball but who had to travel to Edinburgh to find their nearest club. Together their passion for the sport made them determined to start a club in their own town, and they started to lobby the council to improve the facilities.
The opportunity to make this a reality came when East Lothian Council appointed Stephen Duff as the Basketball Development Officer for the area. With his help they were granted use of the gym hall at North Berwick High School, so in the autumn of 2001 North Berwick Basketball Club was born.
The club was an immediate success with over 20 boys and girls regularly attending from the start, quickly growing to over 50 as word spread about this exciting new sport in North Berwick.
The Russell Bequest were approached and kindly donated £1,000 to buy much needed equipment and the venue was changed to the sports centre to accommodate the growing numbers of enthusiastic youngsters. Local solicitors firm Paris Steele WS agreed to sponsor the club strips, donating three sets for the various age groups.
Clubs were also started up in Haddington, Dunbar, Meadowmill and Musselburgh to form the East Lothian Youth League, with games played to eager crowds on Friday nights at Musselburgh Sports Centre. Over the years North Berwick consistently found success at U12, U14 and U16 age groups.
The one thing North Berwick still lacked was a full sized basketball court as the original broken nets in the Sports Centre had never been replaced. The Council couldn't fund replacements but offered to match whatever funds the club could raise towards them. Given this challenge, Awards for All were approached, resulting in a £5,000 contribution, and this along with a contribution from North Berwick High School and the Council's matched funds, meant the necessary nets could be purchased. Once in place they allowed North Berwick to host School Cup and even National League games.
Some of the club members in the early years have gone on to play at the highest levels, with several players playing National League and a number attaining Scotland National Team status.
Since 2001 the club has continued to attract over 50 youngsters and we look forward to continued development of the sport and to introducing more local boys and girls to this fast-paced, exciting game!
In 2014 Marie decided it was time to stand down after so many years in charge and she was delighted to hand over the reigns to Craig Nicol who as a very experienced coach both at Club and national level is a real asset to the Club and will help it go from strength to strength. In recognition of Marie's many years of developing basketball she was awarded the 2013/2014 Special Recognition Award by basketballscotland. Click here for an article on the basketballscotland website.
