Futsal join Oaks to bring BBL Basketball back to Birmingham 

Oaks Consultancy is delighted to announce that the Futsal International Arena Birmingham will be the primary venue for the BBL Birmingham club’s community programme. They are also gearing up to host the team’s home matches from the 2012/13 BBL season.

The British Basketball League (BBL) granted exclusive rights to Oaks Consultancy to operate a Birmingham franchise from the start of the 2012/13 season. The announcement last week generated significant interest from the basketball world in the UK and reinforced Oaks’ commitment to bringing BBL basketball back to Birmingham – a city with close ties to the sport and the league itself.

Oaks Consultancy is beginning dialogue with many of the existing basketball providers across the city to ensure that the sport is given the highest profile possible and creates a number of strong successful partnerships. Oaks also recognise the power of sport in helping local communities achieve better lives. To this end, they are also talking to a range of community providers across the city, who already address agendas such as health, social inclusion, racial tension, crime and anti-social behaviour.

“Oaks is all about sport – we work, live and breathe it, therefore the prospect of bringing BBL basketball back to Birmingham was a fantastic one for us. We’re looking forward to working with key partners in the city to increase participation levels in this Olympic sport in advance of 2012 and we’re obviously also keen to develop community support for the club in advance of their first game in September 2012.

One of our prime objectives over the coming months is to create a community programme we can be proud of, which is why our partnership with the Futsal International Arena Birmingham is so important to us. As a venue it’s ideal for us and will undoubtedly help fulfil our objective of increasing participation levels in the sport across the city.”

Mark Walker, Managing Partner of Oaks Consultancy

“The opportunity for the Futsal International Arena Birmingham to host the Birmingham BBL team from 2012 is fantastic. I’m delighted to be able to provide a venue for the club and particularly pleased to be involved with the club at a grass roots level with the club’s community events programme.”

Frank Rodriguez, Managing Director, the Futsal International Arena Birmingham

“We are really pleased to see a flagship basketball team coming to the city with its base at the Futsal International Arena Birmingham. Having a high profile, high performing team will do much to drive a renewed interest and participation in competitive and community basketball and we look forward to working with Oaks, the Futsal arena and key partners such as Sport England and England Basketball on this exciting initiative. We know that basketball has the potential to engage those who may typically not be fully involved in sport and hope that this initiative inspires many from across Birmingham to take on a sporting lifestyle, and possibly go on to represent the city by playing for the Birmingham BBL basketball team.”

Mike Dickenson, Director of the Birmingham Sports and Physical Activity Partnership

“Birmingham is a basketball city which is already synonymous with some of the biggest games in the BBL calendar, we have every confidence that the new franchise will develop into a significant player in UK Basketball’

Paul Blake, Chairman, British Basketball League

Oaks are yet to announce the official name for the team due to ongoing discussions with potential title partners and are currently using the working name ‘BBL Birmingham’ but hope to be able to confirm this over the coming months. The new owners are keen to hear from any commercial entities interested in supporting or becoming a sponsor of the club’s community programme or indeed of the team itself.

ENDS

Oaks Consultancy - For more information about Oaks or their new BBL franchise go to http://www.oaksconsultancy.co.uk/ or contact Michelle Dorgan on michelle@oaksconsultancy.co.uk or 07865 091276. You can also follow them on Twitter @OaksConsultancy and @BBLBirmingham

The Futsal International Arena Birmingham – For more information go to http://www.futsaluk.net/birmingham-futsal-arena.php or contact Frank Rodriguez on frank.rodriguez@futsaluk.net or 07799 035779. You can also follow them on Twitter @futsalbham

Notes to Editors

About Oaks Consultancy

Oaks is a sports consultancy formed out of a passion for sport and a desire to create financial sustainability for our clients, leading them to greater success on the pitch, court, track or rink. We work with County Sport Partnerships, National Governing Bodies, Sports Foundations and Charitable Trusts, Sports Clubs/ Teams, Commercial organisations and many more.

Although Oaks is still a young company, our team is highly experienced in the sports marketing / consultancy sector and has a unique skill set which can add real value to a business. In terms of the services Oaks provide, the company, set up by brothers, Mark and Adam Walker, works across an impressive cross-section of business areas which include:

• Commercial reviews
• Strategic assessment and planning
• Sponsorship programme development
• Sports development and funding
• Marketing and communications review and service provision
• Charity formation and charitable fundraising
• Event management
 
About the Futsal International Arena Birmingham – Images available upon request

The word ‘Futsal’ is derived from a combination of the Spanish words for ‘hall’ (sala) and ‘football’ (futbol) and Birmingham is home to the UK’s first International Futsal 140,000 square feet arena, which will include 12 FIFA Futsal regulation pitches, including several international sized Futsal pitches.

Futsal is the only form of indoor football officially recognised by worldwide football governing body FIFA. It is also supported by UEFA and The FA, and is emerging as an integral part of their plans. It is the world’s fastest growing sport with 30 million players across the globe.

The game is played between two teams of five players, each team being allowed up to seven substitutes due to the energetic nature of the game. Although similar to football in some respects, playing arena boundaries are marked with lines and not walls or boards, and the ball can be kicked above head height so goals are a similar size to hockey goals. Corners can be taken and throw-ins are replaced by kick-ins from touch lines, both of which must be taken within four seconds. World class players such as Ronaldo, Kaka, Robinho and many other top European, Asian and South American players attribute their football abilities to playing the game of Futsal.

Futsal Birmingham: Birmingham International Futsal Arena, Great King Street North, Birmingham B19 2LF

Images available upon request from Futsal Birmingham care of Frank Rodriguez on frank.rodriguez@futsaluk.net or 07799 035779.