Man, 83, still coaches club he founded in 1966

"I just enjoyed basketball so much that I wanted other people to enjoy it as much as I did."

Ilkeston Outlaws Basketball Club was set up by Paul Booth in 1966, when he was a resistant materials teacher at Ilkeston's St John Houghton School, fresh from graduating at Loughborough University.

Decades on and Booth, now 83, still loves the game and is continuing to coach the volunteer-run club celebrating 60 years.

The club, now based at Kirk Hallam Community Academy, started with just a dozen players but has grown to have hundreds of players across 10 teams, from children as young as seven up to seniors - including some of the original pupils Booth trained who are now coaches themselves.

Booth said his love of basketball quickly caught on with pupils.

He said: "I pestered and pestered to get some basketball stands in the little hall that we had.

"The boys loved it, and when they were leaving school I had to keep them together, I wanted to do that, and it's just gone from there.

"Some of the people who are still part of the club were in the very first school team that I coached, and they're still coaching and refereeing and very active in the club."

What started with just 12 players has grown into a club with more than 200 members, with the club moving from venue to venue as it grew and saw success.

"My favourite memory of my time at the club is when the senior women won division one promotion," said Booth. "That was never my initial aim but it was a wonderful feeling to get to that position.

"It was very difficult for us as a little club like this but we competed at the very highest level."

Some of the original pupils Booth trained are now coaches themselves, helping to pass on their knowledge to the next generation.

"The fact that they're still involved is, that's probably one of the proudest things," he said.

One former pupil, Roger Ura, remembers the selection process for the original team was not for the faint-hearted.

"There were about 50 children in the hall, and we had to catch the ball and pass it back to Paul.

"Unbeknown to us, if we didn't catch it and it fell on the floor, you were out, and you didn't make the team."

Ura is now the head coach for the club's under 14 boys team.

One current player, 12-year-old Finn, said the club meant a lot to him. He has been playing basketball for four-and-a-half years.

He said: "I think it's amazing that the club has been running for all this time and all the work that's been put into it, and how we have got volunteers who don't get paid, taking up their own time to coach us and support us.

"It feels really special and it provides a lot of opportunities."

The club has received various grants over the years, but is now funded through player subscriptions and run entirely by volunteers.

It hires its current sports hall at Kirk Hallam Community Academy, where players continue to train and compete.

Demand for places is high, with some teams operating waiting lists.

Booth said: "We are, thankfully, flooded at the minute for the waiting list, there's at least 40 people waiting to join."

The club's chairperson, Darren Roberts, says it needs more coaches to help support its growing membership and ensure it can continue for years to come.

The member of more than 35 years said: "We are an aging coaching group."

"We can train coaches, we've got the facility to do that, we just need people to volunteer to work with us so we can keep the youth programme going."

Booth has said he is delighted that the club has grown into what it is today.

He said "People have just carried on with it, generation to generation if you like."

When asked what he believes has contributed to the club's success, he said: "Sons and daughters have been carrying on from what their parents were doing, it's a family club and that's why it's become what it is today."

"It's absolutely incredible," he added. "If I'd have thought when I was 22 that I would still be coaching basketball at 83 and still enjoying it, I don't really know what I would have thought telling the truth."

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