The directors are delighted to announce that after a long period in planning Preston Basketball CIC has signed a partnership with Vault, Preston's Youth Zone run by Onside.

Vault has just opened its doors following an £11.9m construction project invested to support young people between the ages of 8-19, and up to 25 with additional needs, in Preston. The site, which is situated opposite Preston Bus Station, right in the centre of Preston is perfectly located 0.4 miles from the club's main base at Cardinal Newman College. It is a state of the art facility include a music studio, sports hall, climbing wall, boxing gym, recording suite, fully equipped gym, art room, training kitchen, and a cafe serving nutritious meals. The building is staffed and operated by trained youth workers there to promote the safety and enrichment of the young people attending the facility.

From a basketball standpoint, the main sports hall is a superb facility that is spacious, well lit with modern flooring and has 2 main baskets along with 4 side baskets. The club has invested in new basketballs, bibs and coaching aids to support sessions in our new home for basketball development.

The relationship with Vault will form 2 elements:

1 - Free membership to Vault for any Preston Basketball member aged 8-19 (usually £5/year)
2 - Basketball provision on the external partner evening every Wednesday

1 - Vault Membership

To support our relationship with Vault, we have been offered memberships for every current club member to Vault. This requires each individual to create an account to register after which entry for general admission is just 50p per day. For this token payment, users can benefit from all of the facilities which from a basketball perspective include the sports hall and training in the gym. But our members are not restricted to those activities, they can try a range of activities such as the climbing wall, perhaps record a podcast or take part in employability training. We truly believe this is a brilliant venue and setup that will support many young people with a safe space to learn new skills and meet new friends. Registration details will be emailed to all members shortly with instructions on how to join.

2 - Basketball Sessions - Wednesdays 5:30-8pm

The club will be using the available time to support newcomers to the sport in developing their skills. Every Wednesday, qualified Preston Basketball coaches will run sessions aimed at beginners and improvers to help with their basketball development.

The sessions will be split:

5:30-6:30pm - Under 12s (Age 8-11)
6:30-8pm - Under 16s (Age 12-16)

Sessions will start from Wednesday 18th March and will be completely free until the end of April, costing just £3 a session pay as you go thereafter.

For more information on the Youth Zone, including how to get there please see their website. For further questions on the basketball session please see the aticle following or contact the club at prestonbasketballclub@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing some of our junior players and lots of new faces there.

Andy & Sam
PBC Directors