Knights to receive council’s backing

Stirling Council has signed a new partnership with Stirling Knights.

Knights sported their new Stirling: Alive with Sport kits for the first time last Friday as part of a showcase by the club’s under-12s.

The slogan is part of the Stirling: Alive with Scotland campaign.

Launched in 2009, Stirling Knights’ youth programme is now made up of more than 500 members of boys and girls aged 8-18.

The council’s community planning and regeneration convener Chris Kane said: “I am delighted that we are supporting the youth programme provided by Stirling Knights and the positive work it does in the local community.

“It is a fantastic example of how local groups are improving the health and wellbeing of our young people.

“Their teams allow members to build their confidence and team spirit from a young age right into adulthood.

“Our young people are also making solid connections to their local sporting community. With the progress already made by Stirling Knights over the past seven years, I am looking forward to seeing what they achieve in the future with our Alive with Sport support.”

The Knights have sessions and squads from the Mini Ballers right up to senior men, including U10, U12 and U14 regional competitions.

The team is also involved in the Scottish Cup from U14 to senior level, with U16, U18 and senior teams in the Scottish National Leagues.

Knights chairman Pete Duncan said: “It’s a tremendous boost to the club to receive this support from Stirling Council and we are delighted to display the branding on our kit.

“We have grown rapidly over the last five years, producing many international players from across our nine teams.

“We currently have a strong under-12 section and our next step is to make sure we work with Stirling Council and Active Stirling to ensure that these young players have great opportunities to achieve in the sport of basketball.”

Knights meet near neighbours Falkirk Fury tonight (Friday) at Grangemouth following a successful weekend against Basketball Paisley, when they recorded wins at U14 boys, U16 boys, U18 girls and U18 men.

And the senior men topped it off with a first-ever win over league leaders St Mirren when they came back twice from double-digit deficits to win 9786.

Pete Duncan said: “This is testament to the hard work of our dedicated coaching team.

“The players have been pushed and tested all year and when you see these results you know that all their hard work and effort in training is paying off.”