Following final selections in January, the FIMBA GB +40 Women had their first team camp at the weekend as well as taking on a mix players from the various Loughborough BUCS teams.
As this was the first time the full team had been together, including the +35 players joining the teams for the World Cup, Saturday’s session took on a whole new look, with the coaching team talking through the offences and expectations of the team, before walking them through on court.
After a good warm-up and stretch led by the physio and captain, the group split into two to run through the various offences and ensure everyone was on the same page and the +35 players were up to speed.
After a Q&A session with the players, they started their pre-game warmup to take on the much younger Loughborough University team.
We are hugely thankful to Coach Stanley for facilitating this game and of course Coach Arjun and his group of players for being so flexible in the game and allowing us to try different playing groups, strategies and concepts out on the court. The +35 players fitted in seamlessly both on and off court, showing the spirit and ethos of FIMBA GB really does run through all our teams
Assistant Coach, Bruce Lauder
With FIMBA GB sending a +35/40 mixed and a +40 team to the Masters World Cup in Croatia, there were 16 players looking to get on court and show how they fit within the team, so the decision was made to split the Squad into two 8s, with one Group playing Q1 and Q3, and the other Group playing Q2 and Q4.
From the start, it was clear that the GB Forties were going to have to be very accurate as the younger University team started the game with 3 steals in a row and some excellent shooting, racing out to a 2-9 lead early on. A timeout from Coach Harrison calmed the team down and a much more composed group headed back on the floor, winning the first quarter 16-13.
Whilst the first Group was debriefing with Coach Harrison, Coach Lauder took the second Group through their warmup routine and discussed learnings from watching the other group on court. A more controlled start and excellent offensive rebounding saw a better performance, although the defence was still caught wanting at times, but the GB Forties won the quarter 16-10.
The original idea was to mix the two groups up in the second half, but on reflection, the coaching staff felt it better to keep the cohesion and see what changes and improvements the groups made with little input from the coaches.
It worked as the first Group took to the floor again, and started using their superior experience and strength to dominate inside, playing a nice inside-out game and cleaning up the boards at both ends, winning the quarter 18-11.
As the final quarter started, the Uni team started to find their range and knocked down four 3s on their way to winning the quarter 17-21, but the GB Forties again learnt from their first outing and put in an improved performance.
Final Score: GB Forties 67-55 Loughborough University.
After a joint warm down, the GB Forties returned to the hotel to watch the rugby, before heading out for a team dinner…and car-park dance off!
Sunday started with a full breakdown of the game from the day before with the players encouraged to give honest feedback of their own and the team performances.
It was a very open and honest assessment, that formed the basis for what I think was our strongest and best training camp since I joined back the team back in 2023. The players took a major stride forward and should be very pleased with their development so far. Beating a team more than 20 years our junior and not allowing them to fast break against us is a real testament to where this team is, and then coming back today having taken away all the learnings and putting them into practice shows the confidence that is growing as individuals and as a team.
Assistant Coach, Bruce Lauder
After the warmup, they went straight into 3on3on3 with strict rules of what had to happen before a score, this was built up to 4on4on4 and eventually 5on5on5 with the emphasis on reducing turnovers and finding the best shot.
A new shooting drill was introduced, which then expanded into a competition as the group was split in two and had to make 10 baskets from 8 positions against each other. After 79 made shots by each group, unbelievably the final 3s both sunk at the same time, forcing a free-throw shoot out that really served to bring the team even closer together as a group and was a lot of fun.
The session finished with some more highly competitive and accurate full court play before a final warm-down.
The GB Forties now have only one more camp before heading to the World Cup, but are in the best position they have ever been.
The team are highly supported off court and would like to take this opportunity to thank all the partners who have made this journey possible so far: Care Days; Global Travel Worldwide and Langley Mechanical Services. For more details on the FIMBA GB +40 Women click here or to keep up to date with the their journey to the World Cup and World Championships, follow gbforties on Instagram and Facebook.
If you are interested in partnering the +40 Women and support their journey in 2025, you can find all the relevant details on our partners page.
