The new 10 team League will be run by England Basketball and the British Basketball League (BBL) and will form the top flight of women's basketball in the UK for the 2014-2015 season.

The League will comprise of the eight existing franchises from the England Basketball National League (EBL) Division One, including reigning champions Loughborough Riders, along with Sheffield Hatters, Nottingham Wildcats, Cardiff Archers, Sevenoaks Suns, Manchester Mystics, Team Northumbria and Barking Abbey.

They will be joined by Division Two champions Leeds Carnegie and runners-up LSBU Brixton Topcats.

The new competition will have no relegation and there will be no automatic promotion from the lower tiers.

England Basketball will provide administrative and regulatory support through officials' appointments, discipline and International Basketball Federation (FIBA) relations for player clearances.

Chief executive Huw Morgan claimed the League will help provide female players with a higher standard of play and improve the level of the game at the elite level.

"Growth of the sport across the whole basketball market is something that England Basketball is very passionate about," he said.

"Providing more girls and women with the chance to continue their journey to the top of the game is essential for both improving the performance of players on court today and creating an aspirational pathway for the players of tomorrow.

"We are delighted to be working in partnership with the BBL and women's clubs across the country in making this happen."

Lauren Thomas-Johnson (centre) of the Sheffield Hatters will be one of the stars set to take part in the new WBBL ©AFP/Getty Images



The BBL will provide scheduling and results, marketing, commercial development, rights exploitation and promotion for the WBBL.

"Everyone in the BBL is committed to making the WBBL a success," commented BBL chairman, Ed Pericval said.

"All our clubs have very significant grassroots development programmes and basketball is a sport that is very attractive to boys and girls.

"Thus we owe it to our young fans to ensure there is opportunity for young women to follow their dream and become as good as they can.

"We have seen in countries around the world the improvements on and off the court in women's basketball, and we felt the time was right to make this investment to grow the game further in the UK."

While the introduction of a more professional and higher standard of league will be welcomed it remains to be seen how that will fit in with the international side of the game considering British Basketball has had its funding for Rio 2016 withdrawn by UK Sport.

Great Britain's women followed up a disappointing showing at the London 2012 Olympic Games, where they lost all five matches, with promising performances at the 2013 European Championships in France where wins over Serbia, Latvia and Croatia saw them finish in ninth overall.

But they failed to make the cut for this year's World Championships in Turkey, due to to take place from September 27 to October 5.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related Stories
April 2014: British stars welcome efforts of All-Party Parliamentary Group on Basketball
March 2014: British Basketball funding appeal for Rio 2016 snubbed by UK Sport
November 2013: England Basketball appoints former top rugby official as new chief executive
August 2013: England Basketball and BBL join forces to capitalise on UK basketball popularity surge
August 2013: British Basketball League Playoff Final set for Wembley Arena return