Rob Woodhead
After working as a Sports & Physical Activities Coordinator for the past 5 years, Rob has made the move to the Sports Development Team to develop a joint remit of Basketball & Disability Sport. A graduate of Liverpool John Moores University in Combined Sports & Education Studies, Rob followed his passion for coaching and development. A keen player and coach of Basketball for the past ten years, Rob has been heavily involved in Basketball, both in West Yorkshire and Merseyside. After working for Active Schools Rob developed a keen interest in Disability Sport and has seen great success with the Athletes at Musselburgh Grammar School. Rob has strong plans for both Basketball & Disability Sport in East Lothian and is very excited to be part of a dynamic and forward thinking Sports Development Team.

Basketball

The East Lothian Peregrines season came to a head last week with the National Basketball Challenge.  The counties premier basketball team had squads representing in the Un 12 and Un 14 age groups with boys and girls teams.  The squads have been training with head coaches Mark Stevenson (Boys) and Charlotte King (Girls) since January in preparation for the prestigious basketball event.  The best regional teams at each age group from around the country including Highlands, Glasgow, Fife and Edinburgh compete to become the top team in Scotland.  The Un 14 boys finished 1st in the Bronze group after a series of brave performances with a seriously depleted squad on the day.  Star player Liam Mackle was named in the tournaments All Star 5 and was invited to the trials for the U14 Scotland Squad.  The Un 12 girls, who were coached by Edinburgh Kat’s star, Charlotte King finished second in the Silver group after some great performances.  The quality coming through is very promising for girls basketball in East Lothian.  However the success story for East Lothian was the Un 12 boys (pic attached).  Going into the tournament Head Coach, Mark Stevenson was very confident in the quality of his players and they didn’t disappoint.  After some close games and a gripping final game our Un 12s confirmed their potential with a second place finish, making East Lothian the second best team in Scotland.  Head Coach Mark Stevenson said the ‘I’m absolutely delighted all the hard work has paid off, our players really stepped up and showed their calibre today and have firmly put East Lothian on the basketball map.  Farried Yassien and Ben Mchardy were exception on the day and lead by example through-out, it’s so promising for basketball in East Lothian’.  The Un 16 boys who finished 5th in the Lothian League are preparing to step up to National League Division 2 in September, as a new generation of East Lothian performance athletes lead the way including Craig Greathead, Finlay Munro and Matthew Mitchell.  Rob Woodhead, Basketball Development Officer for East Lothian Council said ‘Basketball in East Lothian is on the up and The East Lothian Peregrines is raising the bar.  The quality and dedication of both the players and coaches is exceptional and parental support is very encouraging, it’s an exciting time’  The club has also been awarded £1000 from the Ewan Williamson Fund to support its development programs.  The fund was set up to support basketball opportunities after the tragic death of Fire-fighter and Basketball player Ewan Williamson. The club would like to thank Basketball Scotland and Mrs Williamson for this opportunity.