Eloise Sneddon and her basketball journey so far - creating the MIXTAPE!!

Over the past 2 years Eloise has been making a mix tape to help her make the next step in her basketball career.

I made this highlight video to get interest from overseas coaches, in the hope that I will achieve my goal of getting an athletic scholarship to University! I have had ambitions of playing basketball overseas for a long time and, although I have had a lot of setbacks with two separate ACL surgeries (at aged 13 and 14), I can happily say I am fully recovered and have had no problems with my knees at all in the last 3 years!

I started playing basketball for a local league club in Salisbury at the age of 10. Then after a while I decided I wanted to take basketball more seriously, so I decided to join Solent Suns Basketball Club in Southampton to play National League. I played there for 5 years whilst studying my secondary education. By time I reached year 11, aged 16, I knew I needed to be getting more basketball training fitted into my everyday life if I wanted to improve as a player. Unfortunately, there were no colleges near me offering a full basketball program built around academics, so I investigated the colleges further away from my home that could give me this. When I heard about the Henley College and Reading Rockets it seemed like the perfect environment to develop both my basketball and academics.

I feel I have improved considerably through being part of this program and regardless of where I end up at university next year, I want to thank Rockets and Solent for all they have done to help me.

Home game vs Bristol Storm

Rockets bounce back with 28 pt victory

On Saturday the 25th of January, the women's senior team hosted 4th ranked Bristol Storm, finishing with a 86-58 victory. After a tough loss in the Semi Final against Leeds Carnegie last weekend, the Rockets were looking to regroup and also regain their momentum going into the second half of the season. 

Standing in their way was the Bristol Storm team who over the past few seasons have had a strong presence in the league, really raising their game and continuously finishing in the top 2 of there leagues, making semi finals and also the playoff final last year. With Gareth Till's team also just coming off a tough Semi Final loss, both squads were looking for a positive bounce back.

From the tip, the Rockets looked to be composed and in control with a strong full court defense that held Bristol to just 25 points in the first half.  At the start of the second half it was clear that Bristol wasn't ready to fold and they came out fighting, outscoring the Rockets 18-20 in the 3rd quarter. Leading scorers for Bristol were Alberqueque with 12, Fox 11, and Dyer 10.

The game provided Coach Thorne and Buckner the opportunity to challenge the groups defensive mentality in which they responded positively. The goal to improve on the previous game's result of 80-52 and with the same difference total but a wider spread of minutes was really pleasing for the coaching staff. Becky Lear and Cat Lutz led the team with 20pts each and Melissa Espin followed with 12.

The Rockets have a game next weekend against Cardiff Archers II in Cardiff at 6pm.  With the next game the team looks to continue their momentum and as a team keep focused towards their season's goals.

Quarter breakdown:

1st - 28 - 14
2nd - 21-11
3rd - 18-20
4th - 19-13
 

Motivation: Hard Work Beats Talent - Keven Durant

U18s Captain Freya Szmidt



Freya (No9) playing for England U18s this past summer

My name is Freya (aka Froggy) and I'm a 6"1 forward.  I've been playing basketball since I was about 10, when Steph Johnson was my first ever coach!!  I started playing to copy and follow in the footsteps of my older sister.  I represented England U18's at the European Championships and I plan to continue to play basketball for many years to come!



Rockets Henley AASE Girls Eloise Sneddon, Rhiane and Freya Szmidt, Denisa Molnar, Jasmine Long and Hannah Whitely. (Left to Right)

 

Trophy Semi Final

Rockets Ladies through to a National Semi

For the second time in three years the Rockets Senior ladies will take part in the Women’s National Trophy Semi Final when they will play against Northern counterparts Leeds Carnegie for a spot in the final.  The semi-final is scheduled for next Sunday(19^th January) tipping at 5 pm at Leeds Metropolitan University Arena.

The squad has had a successful start to the season with 8 wins and no defeats in league play and averaging 100.1 points a game whilst conceding 45.5 points per game. This fast paced play has crossed over into the National Cup where they beat a strong Solent team 65-55 and took a Sevenoaks Div 1 team to overtime. These have been great barometers for the girls and given them an insight into the level required in Div 1.

The Trophy provided the team the chance to play Cardiff Archers in their second  round game (after progressing to this stage as their opposition forfeited the first round) and an opportunity to spread the minutes throughout the group culminated in a 122- 42 point victory and a quarter final with Steve Nelson's Sussex Thunder.

Rockets’ Coach Josh Thorne said:  ‘We looked forward to playing against high scorer Francesca Morton and one of the best U16 juniors in the country, Kyla Nelson and this did not disappoint.  It was a high scoring affair with Cat Lutz hitting 3 three-pointers in consecutive offences forcing an early time out.  This ended up being Rockets day with a 99-59 final score and Cat Lutz scoring her Trophy game high 48 points whilst Morton dropped 32 and Nelson 16 respectively.

We have not come across many teams fielding U18 players this season and Steve Nelson is doing a fine job with many of his squad being in this category.’

Leeds have had a great start to their season having very similar results in the league with a 9 – nil record, scoring 97.5 points per game whilst conceding 49.6 points per game. On paper the two squads are very similar in results, in scoring and in defence and with both squads having multinational feels and high scoring Americans the semi-final has all the ingredients for a thriller.

Let's hope our Rockets Ladies can come back with a win!  Everyone at Rockets will be waiting eagerly to hear the result!


Reading Rockets Basketball

Here come the girls!

And so it seems that the Girls are well on their way!

It is so pleasing to visit JMA on a Monday night and see so many young girls and women taking seriously one of the biggest and best sports for them to be involved in...and competing too!
Many years of hard work, tears, cuts, bruises and headaches go into making a female athlete and so much of it behind closed doors too. Without the adulation, the arrogance, the media hype and the general self promotion that male dominated sports tend to get here in the UK the girls have been working hard behind closed doors to make a name for themselves....and its working.

There is so many more opportunities for young women and girls to compete in a positive environment without the cries of body image, self awareness and general female driven self loathing from ridiculous magazines and tv shows now...and long may it last. 

Form a club perspective we are so pleased to be witnessing a surge in young ladies taking psort as seriously as they want to and remain healthy, fit and focussed....and cool!

The drive to the creation of a fully functioning female led programme has been in the heart of the club for so long and it is starting to take shape. With the development of an academy programme at Henley and JMA and the vision of some great Coaches and support staff there is real enthusiasm along the way.

I wanted to post something on here and am happy to write more specific articles as and when appropriate but the first thing to say is how thrilled i am personally at the direction we are moving towards now and i look forward to watching the programme grow even more!

Matt J

Carla De Benavides Gabernet

We are going to be having a variety of bloggers. Hopefully all of the Seniors will post this season. We are going to start with one of the Rockets newest players, Spaniard, Carla De Benavides Gabernet, whose claim to fame is being friends with the sister of Portland Trailblazer, Victor Claver. She is Valencia through and through.

Natacha and Carla - Rockets Spanish Duo

My name is Carla, I'm 25 years old and I am from Spain. I am the youngest of a big family and am now living in London for 18 months. I started working as an au pair and now I am working as a teacher in a nursery. I like my job and really enjoy every day.

With my job the second thing that I love is basketball. I have played since I was 7 years old, but I've had a ball in my hands since the day I was born because my family all played basketball. For me basketball is more than a sport, it makes me feel happy and I can leave my troubles behind and play or watch basketball. Basketball gives me a lot of good things, for me and my friends. This year the opportunity to play for Reading Rockets came and it is amazing. Being able to meet new people and enjoy a new experience of basketball. Last year I was playing with a men's team in Slough and I am still playing with them and this is also enjoyable.

In my free time I like to spend time with friends, read, listen to music, shop and travel. Nowadays when I can I try to go to Spain to visit friends and family. I also arrange to meet them in other countries, this year my intention is to visit Paris and Amsterdam and if I have more time other countries.

Reading Rockets Ladies Basketball Program

Due to the club's website being hacked recently we have decided to blog our ladies team until we are able to get back onto the website.

Here is a short history of our team and how the club has grown. The ladies team has been a part of the club for around 10 years and has been in various forms including local league and national league versions. In the past 4 years the club has been involved in England Basketball's South, South East and Midlands South West National Leagues. 

In 2011-12 the club began the roller coaster ride of creating a sustainable, enjoyable, competitive environment which would develop junior and senior players as well as the club's young coaches Steph Johnson and Josh Thorne. In the first season the club had 7 senior members including ex Div 1 player Becky Lear and two U18 players. With a very multinational feel including Romanian, Welsh, Hungarian and Irish players, the team managed its best finish in National league coming 2nd, making the Semi Finals of the National Trophy and going into the playoffs. 
 

 

This was a really good achievement for a new group and was the beginning of some really exciting times for the ladies program. We were also able to run a local league squad which was fantastic to develop new players to the club.

In 2012 the club added to the roster U17 Horizons players Eloise Sneddon, Freya and Rhiane Szmidt and Romanian Jnr International, Denisa Molnar.  Returning to the court for the club was Steph Johnson, Commonwealth medalist Claire Maytham and ex junior and Welsh Senior Rachel Woods. Anca Massinova came on board after a handful of 30+ point games in local league and the addition of local league players allowed the club to now train with 10+ players and provided us with the opportunity to begin training much earlier in the summer and prepare for the season. Since day 1 we aimed to work towards being as close to a performance pathway as we could. This meant adding in nutrition support, strength and conditioning, pre, in and post season reviews and the addition of analysis to support the development of individuals and the team. 

 

The group took part in a much more competitive league in 2012 with Westside, Solent and Oxford providing great competition for us. This was what the group needed, an opportunity to play at the 2nd highest level in the country against other clubs who were striving for Division 1 opportunities. Each game was a dog fight and really highlighted our strengths and weaknesses and showed how even the smallest mistake can mean a loss.

One of the stand out moments was when Becky Lear was crowned Division 2 player of the year and despite suffering some tragic illness and injuries going into the playoffs. The group finished more determined than ever to build and move on going into the 2013-14 season. Freya Szmidt starting and scoring 39pts against Oaklands Academy and making the England U18 and GB U20 3V3 squad was an outstanding achievement. 

2013-14

We were able to make some big steps towards establishing the performance environment we have been striving for and one of the tallest groups we have every put together with 5 6ft + players.

The club welcomed Rick Buckner who would take the lead with the talented U18 squad and support Josh with the Senior squad.

Many of the core group returned including 3rd year players Rebecca Kingston, Becky Lear and Steph Johnson and 2nd year players Anca Massinova, Alex Stollery, Claire Maytham which which is a big reason for the recent success of the program. 

The club welcomed its first import players Cat Lutz who played at Iona College and welcomed Melissa England who hails from Southern Oregon University as the clubs first American ladies players. Spaniards Carla De Benavides Gabernet and Natacha Paris helped to round out the clubs multi-national roster.