Due to the huge growth seen in the number age groups teams and interest in FIMBA GB, the Committee was set up in the summer of 2023 to support the running of FIMBA GB.
The committee is made up of players, coaches and team managers form various age group teams to ensure a breadth of opinions and insight and they will discuss and define all matters concerning FIMBA GB teams.
Nicky Shaw
Nicky is the FIMBA GB lead delegate and currently plays for the +60 Women. A fully qualified referee, including wheelchair basketball, in which she was privileged to officiate at the London 2012 Paralympics, Nicky has held several key positions in British Basketball over the years. As a Director of Basketball England, Nicky was instrumental in defining a wide range of BE projects as well as the numerous policies, procedures and strategies required. At the British Basketball Federation, Nicky was a key ambassador for women’s basketball through coaching, officiating and playing, as well as working with FIBA to promote the HerWorldHerRules project to get more girls involved with basketball and overseeing the GB Women’s senior programme. In 2015 Nicky took over from the late Bill McInnes as Chair of GB Masters. Following GB Masters example masters tournaments have now sprung up all over Europe and further afield. At a Strathclyde Masters Nicky was introduced to Vincenc Butala who was then the President of FIMBA Europe and they started discussing how GB could join the FIMBA organisation. Nicky and Maria Endacott-Heser then forged forward recruiting Team Managers, Coaches and Assistants entering 16 teams in the European Championships in Malaga, 2022 and coming home with medals galore.
For me, I take great joy and pleasure seeing older players still with their boots on enjoying the game, connecting with old friends as well as making new ones. If they are not able to actually play then staying involved in another capacity is key to keeping everyone in the game. We are now looking forward to next year’s international competition calendar, where we will compete again on the European and World stage.
Nicky Shaw
Maria Endacott-Heser
Maria is also a FIMBA GB delegate and plays for the +60 Women. Maria started playing basketball aged 18 and was inspired to play by her three older brothers. Her proud connection to the sport is that a relative (Paul Endacott, a Basketball Hall of Famer) played in the first Naismith team and was instrumental in creating the rules of the game. She has played for Surrey County, South East England and London Towers (National League). She currently plays for Cobham Cobras in the Surrey League, Team Fusion Masters and the FIMBA GB +60 Women’s teams. As well as playing, Maria has been an active committee member for a number of basketball organisations including The Women’s Committee for Basketball in London, the Surrey Basketball Association, GB Masters and is a founder member of FIMBA GB. She has also coached a number of teams at various levels, including Kingston College, Kingston University, South Thames College and Wallington High School in Surrey.
I am extremely proud to be a part of the FIMBA GB organisation both as a founding committee member and as a player. Playing a part in enabling Masters basketball players to represent at top level internationally is priceless and is a cause that is very dear to my heart. Along with that comes the many wonderful friendships that have I have made along the way, and of course, the honour and opportunity to fly the flag. It’s great to feel part of the FIMBA community which has become like a family to me.
Maria Endacott-Heser
Bruce Lauder
Bruce was a forward with the successful GB Wolfpack +40 Men, winning European Silver and World Cup Bronze, but whilst rehabbing from knee surgery he is now Assistant Coach of the FIMBA GB +40 Women, guiding them to World Cup Silver. Bruce only started playing at university after a successful rugby career was cut short through injury. He helped his university team earn promotion in the (then) BUSA league before a year studying and playing in the Italian university league. Upon his return to the UK, Bruce found his home in Nottingham and spent his entire career there, winning 6 National Titles and 2 MVPs in the process. He still holds two club records with the Nottingham Hoods for most rebounds in a game (22) and most rebounds per game (9.7 average from over 100 games).
I love being part of the FIMBA GB family, it is a really special experience both on and off the court and the comradery between the age groups is great. I’m really excited to see where we can take the organsiation.
Bruce Lauder
David Spindley
David is a centre for the +55 Men and is a veteran of two European tournaments, having played in the FIMBA Championships in Spain and ESBA Championships in Portugal. Previously, David played in the Carlsberg League with Kingston and Derby, National League with Doncaster and Sheffield and still plays in the Sheffield local league with Worksop.
Playing for FIMBA GB is a great honour, a fantastic experience and an opportunity to be part of an amazing ‘family’.
David Spindley
Des Williams
Des is Head Coach of the FIMBA GB +55 Men and started his playing career in Northampton, surrounded by a group of incredible supportive people where he learned to love the game. His youth career was spent in Milton Keynes and Hemel before a stint at St John’s University in New York on an academic scholarship. Upon returning to the UK, Des played was offered a contract at Birmingham where he unfortunately suffered a career ending injury and with it his dreams. After a traumatic few years, and having hit rock bottom, Des’s GP suggested a hobby to motivate him and so he started his coaching career with the u16 Leicester Riders team. Having moved to North Wales, Des took over coaching a failing University that had won just 1 game in the last 40. His impact was immediate, flipping the run on it’s head winning 31 of their 32 games and reaching the BUCS National Conference Finals. Another university came calling and the same results, turning a 1-19 BUCS team to an 18-1 team, earning promotions for both the men’s and women’s teams. Having stepped away from basketball for a few years, Des was coaxed back to scrimmage with the FIMBA GB +55 Men and made the team to go to the European Championships.
The basketball world is a huge family, one that is there for a lifetime and you can either embrace it and be active or sit on the sidelines and not get the benefit of the lifestyle, fun and friendships being made around you. When the opportunity to coach the +55s came up, I threw my name into the hat, having been a part of the FIMBA Family, and I’m honoured to be the Head Coach of the M55’s it’s an honour that 40 years ago, when I first started playing, I would never have dreamed of. Friendships are difficult to maintain at the best of times, but being part of an organisation that embraces friendship, a sport that knows no age limits and being able to combine a recreational environment within a professional atmosphere is something that rekindles the competitive spirit and overflows into your personal and business life. We all need an outlet and being part of the FIMBA Family is the outlet I’ve needed.
Des Williams
Keith White
Keith was a bit late in starting to play competitive basketball at the age of 18 but quickly progressed over a period of 4 years from his local league club in Washington to the regional league, playing for Dairy Crest Durham, and then on to play National league for the newly formed Newcastle basketball club in the early 80’s. After a couple of seasons he was back playing local league at Division 1 standard and continued to play locally up to the age of 53 at which point he retired from the game. At the age of 59 a friend of Keith’s had an idea of starting a veteran’s basketball club at the newly opened Newcastle Eagles facility and so the Bald Eagles basketball club was born. It was then, 2019, that Keith had seen an advert from FIMBA who were looking to recruit for a team of over 60 year olds to represent Great Britain in the European championships in Malaga in 2020. COVID delayed the championships until 2022 when Keith made his international debut. Since then he has competed for the GB +60’s team in Portugal 2023 (despite suffering a heart attack 10 months earlier) and Italy in 2024. FIMBA created alternative opportunities including being interviewed on the Talking Basketball Podcast in November 2023
FIMBA has reignited my passion for playing and when the opportunity came along to join the committee I saw it as an opportunity to help promote Basketball and FIMBA in order to inspire more players to return or continue to play the game of basketball at a high level at any age. I now hope to continue my journey with the +65 Men.
Keith White
Ray Atkins
Ray had a very unconventional route into basketball. He had played at school until 15 when he switched to volleyball for two seasons getting to the British Schools Championships two years running. After this brief spell of sporting success, due to his career in farming and getting married at a very young age, he never played any form of competitive sport until one fateful day on 24th March 2018. He had taken his 15 year old daughter, Amie, along to the Lagoon Sports centre in Paisley, to rebound for Amie as she had been selected to train with the Scotland U16 team. When they arrived this morning they could not practice as the gym was full of mature people playing basketball. He soon realised this was the 5th Strathclyde Masters Tournament and on this day he decided to get fit and try to play competitive basketball again. A year later, and 20kg lighter, he had joined the Strathclyde Sixers team and at the ripe old age of 62 played in his first game for over 46 years in the following years Strathclyde Tournament, which the Sixers won. By now he was hooked on the game and continued to practice, although Covid 19 came along and made any competitive basketball impossible for best part of two years. When Nicky and Maria launched training and trials of the European Championships in 2022, Ray attended and was eventually selected to play in Malaga in 2022 for the +60’s GB team. Rays first ever points in any competitive game came in the first game of these Championships against Italy. Ray has since played for the GB team in Croatia and Italy. He also played in the Coral Springs 40th Anniversary Masters Basketball Tournament in Miami. Ray acknowledges the talented Strathclyde players, with whom he still trains every week, along with FIMBA coaches for his success to date.
It is with immense pride that I have joined the FIMBA family. Never could I have dreamt of playing for Great Britain and it has only been possible because of the efforts of Nicky and the rest of this illustrious team that I have joined. I look forward to helping FIMBA continue its impressive growth and to encourage more players to join this amazing organisation. Basketball has completely changed my life over these past few years and I will do all I can to help others on a similar journey.
Ray Atkins
