As current reigning U25 World Champions, today the GB camp announced the twelve talented
athletes who will head to Thailand to defend the title.
The wheelchair basketball world’s attention will be firmly focused on the GB team as a serious
contender for the 2019 U25 World Championship crown. The squad’s notable international success
includes back-to-back U24 European Championship titles (2016 & 2018) and the 2015 U25 World
Championship title.
The impressive roster boasts some big names of the sport with GB’s Joy Haizelden leading the squad
as Captain, London 2012 Paralympian Maddie Thompson as Vice-Captain, and GB Senior Programme
athletes Kayla Bell, Siobhan Fitzpatrick and Charlotte Moore. Each bring a wealth of international
competition experience to the squad, including their historic 2018 Senior World Championships
Silver Medal.
Making their debut international GB appearances at the U25 Worlds are the South East’s Bethany
Wheeler and North East’s Brooke Mottram. Both deliver a broad depth of experience within
wheelchair basketball with Beth having just returned from representing her British Wheelchair
Basketball National League domestic club, London Titans, in Spain at the EuroLeague 3 Finals; and
Brooke who is currently studying for a Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DISE) in wheelchair
basketball.
The squad is completed with sisters Jade and Adele Atkin, Niamh Horan, Lucy Robinson and Freya
Levy, each of whom have represented GB during their successful campaigns at either the 2016 or
2018 European Championships.
Reflecting on the road ahead, GB Junior Head Coach Dan Price commented:
“Undoubtedly we have an excellent roster and as a squad we are in a really good place for the U25
World Championships. However, we are not complacent about the quality of competition that
awaits – we are aware that as current Champions teams will be looking for early wins against GB
and that we will need to bring our A game from the moment we hit the courts in Thailand.
“We are prepared and ready to defend our hard earned title.”
Echoing the words of the Head Coach, British Wheelchair Basketball Performance Director, Jayne
Ellis added:
“We are extremely proud of all the players that took part in the selection process and huge
congratulations to our World Championship team, their commitment and dedication to their
ongoing development as players has been world class. We are indebted to those hard working
families, coaches and clubs volunteers that give their evenings and weekends to support these
young players on their journey. Our domestic Women’s League and Lord’s Taverners Junior League
provide excellent opportunities for our young players to develop in competitive environments,
appropriate to their age and stage of development and as performance programme, we are excited
about the future talent coming through.”
