This summer has so far been an incredible one for women’s football, with huge audiences for England women’s fixtures as the lionesses roared to the semi-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Coverage of the finals has been unprecedented, with back page stories in British newspapers across the tournament and a record peak of 7.6 million people watching England destroy Norway 3-0 in the quarter-finals live on BBC One.
One tournament that hasn’t even made it onto the red button this summer is the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2019.
In fact, I imagine when you have read your newspaper of choice this morning, there may have been just a short Twitter-length article on GB Basketball creating history by reaching the quarter-finals of Women’s EuroBasket for the first time.
No one is talking about how Temi Fagbenle managed a 29-point haul in a comprehensive 92-71 win against Montenegro. Nothing about the quarter-final tie against Hungary later this week. No real mention of potential qualification for Tokyo 2020 on Sky Sports News.
It has been far from a straight forward journey for GB Basketball, with the legacy from the 2012 Olympics evaporating into a battle for funds, which has seen funding stripped, parliamentary debates and government intervention.
Not to mention a politically charged row between the leaders in the sport which saw a huge wave of resignations just one year ago.
But on the court, none of this has seemed to matter.
GB eased past Latvia with a 74-60 victory, fell to Spain in a close fixture in Riga, comfortably beat Ukraine before the decisive win against Montenegro.
WNBA star Temi Fagbenle is third in points per game, Johannah Leedham-Warner, another who was drafted in the WNBA previously, is joint 7th in assists per game and leads in the field in terms of steals.
A win in their next game would secure at least a fourth placed finish, plus an Olympic qualifier which could see a British basketball team at the Games for the second time in eight years. Not bad for a team with ‘no medal potential.’
The history makers take on Hungary on Thursday in Belgrade at 11.30am GMT. I urge the BBC to do everything that they can to make sure everyone can see it.
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