Press Release

Dec 06 2022

Basketball Ireland makes presentation to 30 National Federations as part of FIBA EuroStep Project

Basketball Ireland continued its work in the EuroStep project, an initiative undertaken by FIBA Europe by presenting a case study,  ‘Steps taken and tools used to popularise basketball in Ireland’ at a gathering of 30 National Federations in Madrid.

The aim of the EuroStep project is to develop club and National Federation’s readiness to manage an accelerated digital transformation and incorporate new technologies into the sport in the post-pandemic era. The project is co-funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Sports Programme.

Three representatives from Basketball Ireland attended the conference – Nathaniel Cope, Head of Communications, Media and Digital, Robert Fahy, Digital Media Manager and Paul Carr, Grants and Participation Manager. Basketball Ireland are one of four national federations who are partners in the EuroStep project.

Nathaniel Cope, Head of Communications, Media and Digital presents to gathered National Federations and FIBA Communications team.

Other presentations included the FIBA Europe communications and digital team, Geoff Wilson Consultancy, the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB), Swedish Basketball Federation (SBBF) and Slovenian Basketball Federation (KZS).

FIBA Executive Director Europe Kamil Novak was among the interested spectators during the event, highlighting the importance with which it is held by the organisation. The next phase of the initiative will see a series of webinars take place in the coming months, building up to a final workshop in June 2023. The EuroStep project is funded by the European Union's Erasmus + Sport program with FIBA Europe partnered with the German Sport University of Cologne as its main academic partner, as well as the digital basketball specialists NBN23.

Nathaniel Cope, Head of Communications, Media and Digital, said: 

Basketball Ireland was honoured to make a presentation at this FIBA EuroStep workshop and share the floor with our counterparts from Spain, Sweden and Slovenia. The importance of this project and the collaboration between National Federations in Europe to grow the game of basketball can't be understated. We wanted to give participants an insight into the plethora of new and exciting undertakings ongoing in Ireland, along with some detail into how we are striving to take steps forward. The input and idea sharing from the FIBA Europe Communications team and external experts at the event will be invaluable in our efforts to continue on an upward trajectory as an organisation. We look forward to the continuing the strong partnerships forged in Madrid in the coming months.