About Us
Barking Abbey School in association with the Basketball Academy offers the opportunity for talented basketball players to work everyday with an England Basketball Association Senior Coach to improve their basketball abilities. Academy students are able to choose from the wide range of academic and vocational courses offered by the school and will be expected to perform in the classroom as well as on the basketball court.
 
 
The aim of the Academy is to provide an environment similar to that found on mainland Europe and in the United States where basketball is scheduled in students timetables along with their regular classes. Each student will have three team practices after school and a minimum of three individual on court and three strength and conditioning sessions, depending on academic schedule, during the day every week resulting in nearly 12 hours of court time on top of their National League game schedule.
 
In a short period of time the Academy has enjoyed great success, attracting five boys and three girls who played internationally in it's first year.  Since then 26 Junior Internationals have attended Barking Abbey School, some of which played in multiple competitions and across various age groups.  It has helped to produce 2 Senior Internationals and currently has seventeen former students on scholarships the United States, with 85% of its graduating players moving onto further education.
 
Domestically the Academy also enjoyed success, with both the Men's and Women's teams reaching the National Sixth Form Colleges and Academies Cup Finals for the past four years and the School celebrating five National Schools Championships.
The annual European tournament hosted by the Academy has grown to now include three sections and has seen teams from seven different countries represented.   Players from both the boys and girls competition have gone on to becoming full Senior Internationals.  Following with its commitment to travel each year to international tournaments, the program has travelled to Bosnia and Lithuania playing in at least one competition each year.
 
 
Based at the upper school site of Barking Abbey School, pupils of the Academy enjoy a unique integrated timetable of basketball and academic lessons. Current academy students study qualifications including GCSEs, A Levels, BTEC National Diplomas and BTEC First Diplomas in a wide range of academic subjects. The school is able to cater for any level of academic ability through its thorough curriculum of academic options, set to increase with the school offering the International Baccalaureate for post 16's from September 2010.
   
In July 2009, Barking Abbey was announced as the first pilot Institute of Basketball by the British Basketball Federation.  As part of its performance beam pathway, British Basketball intends to use the Regional Institutes of Basketball as a major part of its development of younger talented players.  By being recognised as the pilot, Barking Abbey has been identified as a centre that contains the environment and practices needed to nurture future international basketball players.
 
The academy works alongside local National League clubs to enable students to play competitively in school and club competitions thus helping each individual test themselves at the best level suited to their skills and abilities.  As part of their aim of allowing students to play at the right standard for their abilities, Barking Abbey now has teams entered in both the Men's and Women's Senior National Leagues.
 
Barking Abbey Basketball Academy is committed to providing a high quality coaching programme with three full time English Basketball Association qualified coaches. Each student will be given support and advice on playing and educational options post 19 in Europe, the USA and in the UK as well as athlete education and lifestyle mentoring. This includes guidance on off court activities such as weight training, core stability and SAQ training.
 
 
Barking Abbey aims to create the best environment for aspiring basketball players and that includes helping those students who live outside of the local catchment area. A large number of Academy students stay with Host families during the week so that they can attend the school before returning home on the weekends, often to play National League Basketball. Some students also travel more than an hour each way every day in order to attend the school as they are confident in the Academy helping them to achieve their basketball dreams.