Can you help Worthing Thunder get new home fit for basketball action?

Thunder play in division one of the national basketball league which has been allowed to continue as it is regarded as elite.

But they have been unable to use their normal venue for home games, with Worthing Leisure Centre unavailable.

Now they have found an alternative - the newly built sports hall at Durrington High School - but with funding tight as no fans are allowed into games, they need help raising more than £2,000 to ensure the hall is up to the standard required for their level.

A £2,500 fundraising page - www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/worthing-thunder - has been set up and donations have started coming in.

The club’s plea for help is as follows: ‘In June we were hit with the news that Worthing Leisure Centre, the home of Worthing basketball for the past 35 years, was going to be out of action.

“South Downs Leisure had made the decision to turn the main sports hall into a gym to ensure safety for all the members. All equipment would be socially distanced.

“Initially we were told that this would happen until December 2020 and we discussed with Basketball England and other clubs that we would play away games until December. We were then hit with the further news they had made the decision to keep the gym in the hall until March 2021, which wouldn’t see us back there until later in the season.”

“When we were first made aware, we looked at other venues. We contacted Sussex Bears to see if they could accommodate us, with us sharing their venue... we were advised this wouldn’t be a possibility.

“There are lots of local schools which have basketball courts but they unfortunately don’t have the specification for what is needed for men’s games.

“At the time Durrington High School were having their new sports hall built with a completion date of November 2020, which was perfect timing and we are grateful to the school for accommodating us. Our juniors can continue to train there but our men’s squad can train there too.

“However we were hit with another blow - upon us visiting the new sports hall ,ready for our guys to start training there. Unfortunately the backboards and rims are not the correct ones for men’s division one games. The rims need to be sprung and the backboards need to be perspex glass

“As a club, with no supporters being allowed into games, and our coaching that we do in schools dropping by more than 70 per cent, it has put a massive financial strain on the club.

“While we are waiting for Sport England to confirm funding for basketball which will help towards covering wages, hall hire, game day hire, officials and away travel, we don’t have the spare money to pay for new backboards or rims to allow us to continue playing in the league. Without a venue we can’t play home games.

“As well as benefiting Worthing Thunder and Worthing Thunder juniors, it was also benefit Durrington High School and many outside organisations as they will have a “state-of-the-art” sports hall.”

Thunder are delighted division one of the National Basketball League has been allowed to play on.

The league has been split into northern and southern pools which means Thunder play the northern teams only once and southern sides twice.

They beat Reading Rockets 75-70 last weekend. That followed a 91-78 win over Essex Rebels, a 96-69 defeat to Solent Kestrels, a 113-99 loss to Derby Trailblazers.