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Can anyone comment on the general lack of interest and continued low achiever status of Englond National Basketball Tean.
When I attended primary school in the 1960s, the boys played football and cricket whilst the girls played netball and stoolball. Boys and girls together played shinty and we had a mixed rounders team.
During my years (11 - 18) at Secondary school we played netball and hockey during the Autumn and Winter then rounders and tennis during the remaining part of the year. In addition, we participated in athletics during the summer term. Oh . . . and the last one to get changed for Physical Education lessons had to run round the small quarry that was in the school´s grounds. It was a girls only school and the boys were down at the other end of a long road. As far as I know they played tennis and had athletics as we did, with the addition of cricket and in the Autumn and Winter they played football and rugby.
As a teenager, out of school, I concentrated on badminton, playing in local leagues then added squash as an adult.
In my experience, in those days basketball wasn´t a sport that was played extensively. I know it´s more popular nowadays, but I´m not sure to what extent. Personally, it doesn´t interest me. I may be wrong but, IMO, basketball will never attract the level of interest in the UK that it has in some other countries. Perhaps it´s one of those sports that just doesn´t getting much government funding (if any), I don´t know. I suppose every country has its favourites and its minority sports.
My friend has five children, all in their teens and they are all keen on sports. She is forever driving them to one sports venue or another. Their interests are football, rugby union, ice hockey and swimming and they participate at a very good competitive level.
Ooooh, all this talk of sport from my childhood . . . reminds me of my most vivid sporting memory. I was ten years old and in my school´s mixed rounders team. We had travelled eight miles, to another school, for a match. We were in to bat and Richard Astin was ready to receive the ball. He was left handed and he absolutely ´slogged´ the ball . . . it went over the hedge, over the main road and over the next hedge, into the field across the road . . . Richard Astin . . . my idol!! He was also a superb footballer, sprinter and artist. 
Edited (8/31/2010) by peacetrain
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Congratulations