Northcliffe High School Basketball Players – Practice Makes Perfect

January 1965

South Yorkshire Times          January 9th 1965

Practice Makes Perfect

Good teamwork, regular practice and an unusual system of defence are the ingredients of success for the young basketball players of Conisbrough Northcliffe High School.
During the past three years, Northcliffe have twice been runners-up in the Doncaster Schools’ League, and on the other occasion carried off the championship. This year the nine lads, none of them older than 15, have so far won all six of their league matches, scoring 480 points in the process, and conceding only 160.
There now seems every chance that Northcliffe will regain the league championship in 1965.
The Conisbrough school is one of the very few in South Yorkshire to take this sadly neglected sport seriously, and is surely proving that football and cricket aren’t the only sports which can find a useful place in inter-school, as well as internal school activities.
“The school has really become basketball-minded,” Northcliffe master Mr. Derek Walker, one of the Northcliffe team’s two coaches, commented on Monday.
Mr. Walker, himself well-known both as a player and a referee, added: ” One fact is outstanding in our success. That is that other schools are just not prepared to spend the time on basketball. If you are prepared to do this then you get the results.

TWO HOURS A WEEK

“Our lads for instance spend well over two hours a week practising, plus their once-a-week match. As a result we have won each of our last six league games so far this season, plus a friendly match against Mexborough Grammar School Under-18 side.
“We have eight league matches left to play and I have every confidence that the lads can win the league championship again. The main stumbling block is Doncaster Grammar School, which has always been our chief rival in the league.”
Practice makes perfect it is said, and sure enough as a result of their hard work, the Northcliffe team has been able to utilise a superior man-to-man system of defensive marking, normally used only by expert adult teams. Other school sides use a “zone” defensive system, which is more easily penetrated says Mr. Walker, and this, too, has been a factor in Northcliffe’s success.

UNSELFISH APPROACH

“One other point is the complete unselfishness of the boys during a game,” added Mr. Walker. “If another lad is in a better scoring position, the boy in possession will pass to him rather than keep the ball to himself.”
Mr. Walker shares responsibility for Northcliffe basketball teams with sports master Mr. Don Steels, and to ensure consistency the two men each look after a different set of players, so that as each team leaves school there is always a fully-trained team to take its place – yet another example of the thorough approach the High School has adopted to ensure success.
The Northcliffe Team is: Chris Hallam (Capt.), Jim Blakemore, Raymond Galvin, Stephen Ames, Michael Faulkner, Jimmy Southwell, John Edwards, Edwin Wileman and David Jones. Scorers are Roseline Dawson and Denise Williams.