The FIMBA GB +40 Women showed just how far they’ve come over the past 12 months by winning silver at the Masters Basketball World Cup in Croatia.
A year ago, this team entered the same competition and left empty handed, without even winning a game, but under the guidance of Coach Harrison, the team has been transformed; losing the final by just a single point to a highly decorated and experienced Hungary team.
The team arrived at this year’s tournament thinking they could achieve something but nervous on what lay ahead with some tough teams to overcome. The first game was key to getting the monkey off their back and sure enough they did so in style, comfortably beating Slovakia 24-17 and picking up their first international win and a huge confidence boost for the rest of the tournament. The game also saw Aneta Dodson and Haseena Aktar make their GB international debuts.
Next up was the highly fancied Hungarian team; European Masters Games Gold medal winners, World Cup silver medalists and FIMBA European Bronze medalists. The coaching team had put a ring around this game as soon as the fixtures were released to really show what level the team was at. A tough game, against highly skilled opposition was close throughout, but it was GB who held the lead for the majority of the game and ended up winning 24-22, queuing wild celebrations from the team and supporters.
Next up was a tough double header day, starting with Slovenia. Another close and very physical game from start to finish had the GB Forties playing catchup for much of the game and despite losing top scorer Vilma Jurgaityte to a collar bone injury after an illegal foul and Lisa Stocks to a twisted ankle, the GB Forties regrouped but couldn’t quite snatch the win, losing 23-22. That meant that nothing but a win would be good enough in their final group game against Montenegro and then they would have to wait and see the other results. Luckily, thanks to the physiotherapist, Natalie, provided by partner Spectrum, Lisa was able to play albeit limited minutes, but Vilma was out for the tournament. Despite the setback, the team were able to keep in control of a back and forth game, thanks in the main to their defence and the free throws of Aneta Dodson as they held on to take the win 21-23.
Knowing they would be playing for a medal on finals day was a huge result, but they didn’t know what colour it would be until the final group games had been finished. The announcement came and it looked like they would have to settle for a bronze medal match, but following an enquiry from Assistant Coach Lauder a recount was made and it was confirmed that the GB Forties would indeed be playing in the final against Hungary.
A year ago the teams best result was winning a ‘quarter’ of one game whilst losing them all and by some margin, a year later they compete for the final losing by 1 point the margin of their only other loss. This achieved of the back of their individual and collective hard work in training and there unselfish team ethic in games. I have not coached a team as close as this one who support each without conditions!
Tony Harrison – Head Coach
The result was deserved but they are not satisfied wanting to work harder to improve for Italy it’s a privilege to coach them ‘
As one of the later finals, the team were met with a large British contingent of support, including the +35 Women, fresh from their gold medal success. A slow start, saw Hungary hit two 3s and raise into a commanding lead as GB struggled to get their shots to fall. Despite good defence, the misses continued and Hungary had built up a 14 point lead at the end of the 3rd quarter. A testament to the team and their improvement over the past year, they refused to settle for defeat and what came next was a comeback of epic proportions as stop, followed steal, followed block and the shots started falling from all over the court as the noise from the crowd got louder and louder. Unfortunately time was not on their side and they fell agonisingly short, losing 25-24 but still walking away with a thoroughly deserved World Cup silver medal.
Winning the silver medal is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and perseverance of the team and coaching staff. I am grateful for the opportunity to compete alongside such amazing people. We achieved what we did because of teamwork – off court we are such a close unit and on court, whether playing or on the bench, we support and encourage each other. We have two main rules within the team: 1. Make each other better, and 2. Have fun. We definitely achieved this in Croatia and I cannot wait to learn from this experience as we move forward to Italy
Charlie Lauder – Captain
We want to take this opportunity to thank all the partners who made this journey possible: Care Days; Castings Services; Langley Mechanical Services; Ocorian; PPE; Spectrum; Trelleborg Tyres and White Trees Group. For more details on the FIMBA GB +40 Women click here or to keep up to date with the their journey to the European Championships in Italy, follow gbforties on Instagram and Facebook.
If you are interested in partnering the +40 Women and support their journey in 2024, you can find all the relevant details on our partners page or you can support their journey with a personal donation by clicking here.
