A former American professional basketball player – who at the height of his career faced Michael Jordan on the court – has joined a Harrogate school’s sports’ department.
Voise Winters, who spent a season playing with the Philadelphia 76ers, will now be coaching youngsters at Ashville College in the fast-paced sport. And, thanks to the generosity of a school parent, the school has recently installed two sets of outdoor basketball goals for the pupils to use both in lessons and in their breaktimes.
Illinois-born Voise Winters, who stands 6ft 8in (2.03m) tall, played basketball both in high school and college before joining the National Basketball Association (NBA) side in 1985, where he appeared four times for the world-famous team.
From leaving the Philadelphia 76ers and until his retirement in 2001, Voise played for 18 different teams around mainly in Spain, France and England, including a spell with the Sheffield Sharks.
Ashville College Headmaster, Richard Marshall is a basketball fanatic who represented England in the sport in the Under 15, 19 and 23 age levels, whilst also playing for the British University England team and captaining his University first team.
Richard Marshall said:
I’m personally thrilled to have Voise joining the school’s coaching team.
During a career spanning 20 years he played with the Philadelphia 76ers, in the greatest basketball league in the world, the NBA, and for numerous other clubs all over the world. In the NBA, he played his rookie year with arguably the greatest player to ever play the game, Michael Jordan.
I still play and watch basketball every day and being able to play one-on-one against someone of Voise’s pedigree and benefit from his experience and expertise is just fantastic.
Basketball has been a developing sport at Ashville, but with Voise’s arrival it will become more mainstream for all pupils and it’s certainly a game our US families and overseas pupils enjoy very much.
I would also like to thank parent Brian Waligora for his generosity in funding the new outdoor basketball hoops. These, I know, will be very well used by pupils and staff alike.