The Basketball Challenge: Match One, Southend Swifts vs Pipps Hill Bears

Lebron James scored 25 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds on his debut for the Cleveland Cavaliers and no doubt didn't get subbed once. My first taste of competitive basketball differed....just slightly.

Southend Swifts have been so unbelievably welcoming that when I received an email from Head Coach Stephen Pearl saying I'd be in the squad for a match in two days time, having only trained once, I had to check I wasn't dreaming this while dribbling onto my pillow. Realising I was in fact actually sat having breakfast, the next thing to dawn on me was that I hadn't as yet ever even seen a full basketball match on telly, let alone been to a live one!

Pipps Hill Bears had beaten the Swifts by 50 clear points on their last outing, Coach Butterworth explained the key reasons for the opposition teams dominance in that last encounter before enthusing our players with the know-how and confidence to go out their this evening and take charge of this game. The buzzer sounded loudly, signifying one minute before the start, Coach outlined the starting team and gave some final instructions, the buzzer sounded again and then the boys were up...

That first quarter Southend ran and weaved and shot hoops and robbed the ball with such ease that they already looked out of sight, the Bears looked more like the Pipps, though as the match wore on they did start to resemble bears once more; only the type that have a sore head and growl because things aren't going their way.

I tried to stay warm, think about the set up of the teams, how we were being successful, who was marking whom. I did a great job of warming the bench in the coolest kit in the league (all black - can't get cooler than that, even if you're a tubby fella with a beard tinged with ginger), though my grasp of the game kept getting punctuated by the sheer enjoyment gained from watching silky skills and the growing annoyance of older opponents; the Bears had opted out of playing the Swifts first team and were instead tonight facing our second and slightly younger squad.

Coach's talks in time-outs and breaks between quarters were focused on righting our flaws and boosting confidence, his respectfully disciplined approach would be welcomed in most businesses, let alone in competitive sport.

By midway through the final quarter their cocky No.7's antics had stopped annoying the home team and subsequently they came to a halt, gamesmanship can have its place but teenage lads against grown men who through feeling inferior resort to using physical and rumoured verbal infringements of the rules is simply bullying.

Alex silences their No.7 with pure class.

Four minutes from time I was proud to be wearing Swifts colours, I wasn't expecting to get the call of duty - the ball came to me all too soon and like Andy Murray in a Grand Slam Final, I was shell shocked in the limelight.

My only touch of the rubberised sphere resulted in a pass back to an unexpectant team mate, resulting in a counter attacked where I simply didn't know who to mark - the number I'd been given to stick to had been subbed as I came on and it took one of my colleagues to tell me 14 was now my man.

In our next attack Chris pulled me aside and gave me two simple tasks to follow, this helped snap me out of my daze but with just one minute remaining the buzzer came before I had a chance to redeem myself. Thankfully by then Southend Swifts had gained sweet revenge against the Pippiest of Hill lurking Bears.

Lebron James can rest easy, I'm not yet fit to darn his laces.

The Basketball Challenge: First Training Session

Last Wednesday night I met up with Head Coach at Southend Swifts Basketball Club, Stephen Pearl. I'd landed on my feet...

Basketball first caught my attention when a Greek lad at school started playing the game in London and promptly stopped wearing trainers and starter wearing 'sneakers'. The year was 1990, I thought the kid was double cool.

Michael Jordan may have made the sport globally recognised but this kid in my school, also called Michael, was the only person we actually knew who played the sport. I think even our PE teachers secretly thought he was cool, despite their preference for football, rugby and athletics.

Around the same time my pal Johnny had a basketball net put up by his dad on the carport attached to their garden and my first playing experience came with the boys I grew up with; we'd try and 'slam dunk' the ball but at less then 5ft tall we would have to resort to sitting on one anothers shoulders to get the job done.

As we settled into our teens this Amercian fad passed, our hair grew, and grunge music and girls took our attention.

So when I met Coach Pearl in the car park of Eastwood High School I expected to be greeted by a giant from across the pond....though while Coach Pearl may not be a giant in terms of physical size, he is a goliath in terms of Basketball knowledge and hospitality.

Stephen understood my need to compete in the same number of games as a team would in the Olympics, from day one to the final, and what's more he'd already worked out exactly how I could do this all with Southend Swifts - what a star!

We talked about the club's set-up, standing in the community, the expectations of the players to give something back to the club - Coach Pearl was as proud of the young Swifts that helped introduce basketball to kids at local schools as he was of the 17 students who'd gone on to play in the United States.

I wasn't just there for a chat mind, within half an hour I'd joined the 16-18's and was doing lay-up drills under the coaching of Simon, one of the clubs talents who'd played in the US, he's now returned to coach at the club that gave him his opportunity.

We progressed through shooting hoops from the penalty line, practising 2-on-3 scenarios with an outnumbered defence, learning and role-playing set plays and finished on a best-of-three / first to seven baskets competition.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first training session for The Basketball Challenge, and was wholeheartedly welcomed in by the lads; including Louis (who gave me penalty shooting tips), and Little Darren (he's 6ft 9'...but is shorter than his brother!).

They've even got a player called Jordan, so they must be good!

I've a few weeks of heavy work, where I'll need to focus on challenges during the weekend, but then I'm looking forward to working with the Southend Swifts and will definitely make the effort to give something back.