Sport: Match is Test for crowd too

The Business of Sport

Pupils aim for football record

A Birmingham school is attempting to break the record for the longest indoor football match to raise funds for its food bank.

Pupils from King Edward’s School (KES) will need to play five-a-side soccer for more than 36 hours to break the record.

It won’t be the first time the school has attempted a sporting record – two years ago more than £8,000 was raised for Guide Dogs for the Blind in a 31 hour touch rugby game.

Pupi Aran Singh Bansal, who came up with the idea for the challenge, said: “Following the success of the touch rugby fundraiser we wanted to do something similar to raise money for the KES food bank, which has done an amazing job supporting families in the local community, especially during lockdown.”

George Browning, director of rugby and head of sport science, said: “Playing football continuously for over a day and a half will be tiring and the boys are going to need plenty of motivation to keep going.”

Bursary scheme honours basketball legend

Olympic star: Rob Sibley

A former Olympic basketball star is set to help players and coaches reach new heights at the City of Birmingham Rockets.

Birmingham’s biggest community basketball club has set up a bursary fund in the name of Brisbane Bullets legend Rob Sibley.

The Robert Sibley Bursary Scheme aims to support players and coaches on their basketball journey, especially those who can’t afford to take part in the sport.

The initiative is the result of a generous donation from US-based entrepreneur Jason Healy, who is a long-term friend of Sibley.

Jason, who used to be Brisbane Bullets’ marketing and public relations manager before becoming a successful entrepreneur, said: “Sibs always made time to encourage and help kids, including me, during his career, so it’s only fitting that his legacy will be helping kids to have access to the game he loves.”

Sibley, a former Australian Boomer who appeared at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, is keen to support the Rockets thanks to a meeting between him and the club’s managing director, Rob Palmer, almost two decades ago.

Mr Palmer said: “In 2002 as a young aspiring coach, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to make the trip Down Under to Brisbane with two players from the college programme I was heading up at that time.

“Club staff at Brisbane Bullets, including Rob Sibley, selflessly took us under their wing and we were treated magnificently, on and offcourt, giving us an incredible experience.

“Little did I realise at the time that the legacy of the trip would resurface almost 20 years later.”

Sibley played for the Brisbane Bullets during the club’s NBL glory days in the 1980s. The player, who is known as the ‘Baseline Bandit’, made his debut for the Bullets in February 1984 as a 17-year-old and played in the grand final-winning teams of 1985 and 1987.

Sibley played in seven grand finals in an NBL career that spanned 371 games, including 305 with the Bullets.

Unfortunately, the 54-year-old is now facing an off-court battle after developing cancer. He has been undergoing intensive treatment since November 2019.

Despite all that he is facing the father-of-three is thankful for one small mercy. He said: “Basketball is a brotherhood. That bond never leaves you, and I want those benefiting from this bursary scheme to experience that too.’’

Match is Test for crowd too

Crowded house: Edgbaston saw the return of spectators for the Test between England and New Zealand

Warwickshire’s Edgbaston ground has been used as a test-bed to see if crowds can return to major events without the need for social distancing.

The pilot event took place at a Test match between England and New Zealand, where crowds were allowed in under the Government’s events research programme.

No-one was allowed in without a Covid test, and all spectators had to sign a medical consent form.

Those attending have now been asked to undergo a further Covid test within five days of the match, to provide further evidence for the research programme.

Entry to the ground was also controlled by use of a digital ticket.

Edgbaston chief executive Stuart Cain said: “We like to be innovative at Edgbaston and have invested heavily in the technology that supported this initial pilot.

“However, what we have done will provide part of the norm for future sporting events in having an app for stadium entry, for ordering food and drink orders, merchandise sales and wait times.

“We think that we have proved that the system can work, but need the sports and live events industry moving again and ensuring that we see a return to full capacities as soon as possible.” • A local recruitment firm has become a sponsor of Warwickshire County Cricket Club – and it’s all down to bamboo.

SF Recruitment, which has an office in Gas Street, says it has joined forces with the club to reduce the use of single-use plastics. Both SF and the club are keen on the use of bamboo as an alternative to plastic, with the latter using the material for their shirts during 2020.