HOW TOXTETH EL8TE IS LEVELLING PLAYINGFIELD
Interview with Founders of Toxteth El8te- Emile David Coleman // Michael Embaye //
Basketball is booming in England. Approximately 1.55 million people play the sport weekly, making it the second-most-played team sport a er football. Yet despite that popularity, the funding gap between basketball and football is staggering. Over the 2022–2027 cycle, Sport England has allocated £12.6 million to Basketball England, compared to £67.7 million to football bodies. at works out to roughly £1.63 per basketball player per year, versus £1.55 for football, seemingly close on paper. But the real disparity lies beneath the surface. Football bene ts from a vast nancial ecosystem: Premier League revenues, FA talent programmes, local authority support, and commercial sponsor- ship all feed into youth development nationwide. In contrast, basketball receives none of this trick- le-down funding, leaving grassroots organisations to operate on minimal resources. Nowhere is that imbalance felt more than in Liver- pool’s inner city. Toxteth, a neighbourhood with
a proud sporting legacy, has long lacked full-time programmes, facilities, and pathways for young players despite the demand. Local ballers are o en le sharing a handful of under-maintained courts across the city, with no formal infrastructure to nurture emerging talent. at’s precisely what Toxteth El8te set out to change. Founded by locals who grew up playing the game, the initiative now runs free sessions ve days a week and delivers high-pro le events like the LVP 3×3 tournament in Liverpool ONE and late-night “Midnight Basketball” to engage young people when it matters most. In this conversation, Launchpad Magazine sits down with Toxteth El8te’s co-founders to explore the project’s origins, its city-wide impact, and how community-led action is stepping in where traditional sport systems may have fallen short.
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