Women’s basketball star Chantelle Handy collaborated with a Northern Quarter artist in creating Team Great Britain’s kit to pay homage to Manchester in the lead-up to their match against Sweden.
Great Britain took on Sweden last night at Manchester’s National Basketball Centre in a qualifying match for Eurobasket 2025.
The side sported a jersey with a ‘Thank You’ message on it dedicated to the city the Great Britain Basketball women’s team is based.
The kit design has been created through a collaboration between former GB Team captain Handy and Northern Quarter-based artist, Sasha Ray.
Handy said: “Manchester is a special city, this is where we’re based and we want to give back to the city and the people living here who have supported us in the past.”
The motif on the kit incorporates the famous Manchester Worker Bee, as well as the British Basketball Federation logo and Union Flag colours.
This is not the first fashion collaboration for Handy who in her free time paints art onto shoes.
The Chair of the British Basketball Federation, Chris Grant, explained why Manchester is so important to Team GB.
He said: “This amazing artistic collaboration is the perfect way to honour the relationship between a sport and a city which are both known for their vibrancy, creativity and diversity. Manchester has been the home to many magical milestones in the history of British basketball.”
Manchester itself does have a solid foundation in the basketball community, with Manchester Giants being in the top tier of the British Basketball league since 2012.
Handy had retired from international basketball earlier this year to pivot towards coaching but made her return to the court due to several Team GB players being injured.
However the forward brought some of her coaching skills to the table last night, building on her U20 European Championship experience in the Summer, and her assistant coaching alongside Miguel Ortega.
She said: “Coaching is a completely different mentality to playing, but I want to bring a lot of the leadership and strategic skills I have developed on to the court and I think the skills I have learnt will really benefit the team.”
Great Britain will also face Estonia in Tallinn tomorrow as part of the qualifiers for Eurobasket 2025.
