About United Basketball
WE ARE UNITED Developing the future of basketball in Gelderland.
United Basketball stands for developing basketball talent in Gelderland together, from our home, Sportcentrum De Kooi in Bemmel. We create an environment where talent can develop not only as a basketball player but also as a person.
We look beyond just our own teams. Players, coaches, clubs, partners, education, society and everyone else involved together form the environment talent needs to grow sustainably.
Our mission
United Basketball develops talent in Gelderland, on and off the court. Proud of our sport and our region, we connect people and organisations and create an environment where talent can grow in sport, personally and professionally. Together we build sustainable top-level sport and a strong basketball community.
Talent development is therefore the core reason United Basketball exists.
On the court
We help players get the most out of their basketball talent through high-quality training, coaching, competition and support.
Off the court
We invest deliberately in the person behind the player: personal development, education, responsibility, social skills and preparation for a life both inside and outside top-level sport.
Connection is not a goal in itself, but an important condition that makes development possible.
Our vision
United Basketball aims to become the leading platform for top-level and talent basketball in Gelderland.
We are building a professional and sustainable top-sport structure in which talent can develop from youth to senior level, on and off the court.
Our ambition is to guide talent from Gelderland all the way to the highest achievable level. We develop local heroes and internationals: players who lay their foundation within United Basketball, grow into the highest national level and have the potential to perform internationally too.
One recognisable pathway connects our youth academy with senior top-level sport. With professional coaching, a shared basketball philosophy and attention to sporting, personal and professional development, we create an environment in which talent can get the most out of itself.
Our local heroes are the face of United Basketball. They show where development, ambition and a bond with the region can lead, and inspire the next generation.
This sporting ambition rests on a professional, financially healthy organisation and a strong regional network of clubs, businesses, education and community partners. Together we build a recognisable Gelderland route from talent to top-level sport, and make a lasting impact on and off the court.
Our North Star
The North Star gives direction to every choice United Basketball makes. Programmes, investments and partnerships must ultimately serve the same central ambition:
Guiding talent from Gelderland from potential to the highest level – on and off the court.
This is deliberately not a goal with an end date. It is the permanent direction of United Basketball.
United 2032: strategic ambitions
Our strategic goals for 2032 make concrete what it means to succeed in following our North Star.
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Youth academy
United Basketball has a continuous, recognisable development pathway for boys and girls, with youth teams competing structurally at the highest development levels in the Netherlands.
Talent should be able to find a high-quality environment within Gelderland in which to develop towards senior top-level sport.
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Local Heroes
At least 20% of the squads of our top senior teams are players developed by United.
We define a United-developed player as a player who has been part of our development pathway for at least three seasons.
Beyond their share of the squad, we ultimately also want to measure these players’ actual contribution, for example by tracking the percentage of playing minutes of United-developed players.
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Internationals
United Basketball structurally develops players who move on from our development environment into national teams and/or international basketball.
This is how we want to show that our pathway does not only produce players for our own senior teams, but can genuinely guide talent towards the highest achievable level.
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Senior Women
Our top women’s team competes structurally at the top of the Women’s Basketball League (WBL) and reaches the play-off final, with the ability to be genuinely competitive in it.
That makes our top women’s team both a top-level programme and a visible end point of our female talent development.
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Senior Men
Our top men’s team plays in the Men’s Basketball League and competes structurally for the top places there, with a top-4 finish as the sporting ambition.
Here too, the senior team is an important prospect for players from our own pathway.
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Region
United Basketball has a structural development network with at least 10 basketball clubs in Gelderland.
The collaboration focuses on, among other things, talent development, knowledge sharing, coach development and creating a recognisable route for talent.
United does not replace or compete with the local club; it aims to be an additional development environment and a connecting force within basketball in Gelderland.
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Organisation
United Basketball has a fully established professional organisation with sufficient governance, technical, commercial and operational capacity to deliver its ambitions sustainably.
We also have, structurally, sufficient financial resources to compete at the sporting level we aim for and at the same time keep investing in talent development.
Sporting ambition must therefore not depend on one-off success or a single source of funding, but be carried by a stable organisation and sound business management.
Five strategic pillars
Our ambitions are realised through five interconnected activities.
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Academy
The development environment in which talent is identified, coached and prepared for the highest level, both on and off the court.
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Senior Top-Level Sport
Our top men’s and women’s teams are United’s sporting stage and offer prospects for talent from our own pathway.
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Commercial Partners & Business Club
A strong business network that connects with the development of United through shared ambition, regional involvement and mutual value.
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Community Programme
We use the power and visibility of basketball to create social impact and to reach and develop people in the region.
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Regional Connection & Basketball Development
We connect clubs and other basketball organisations and share knowledge to strengthen the quality, development opportunities and appeal of basketball in Gelderland.
Our core values
Our core values describe not what we do, but how we want to act and work together at United.
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Development
We make room to grow, on and off the court, and challenge players, coaches, volunteers and our organisation to get better every day.
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Connection
We bring talent, teams, clubs, partners and the region together, because we believe we get further together than alone.
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Pride & Commitment
We are proud of United, of each other and of what we achieve together; we show commitment, celebrate success and share the stories that inspire others to become part of United.
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Ambition
We set the bar high, dare to think big and aim for the highest achievable level, without losing sight of development along the way.
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Professionalism
We take responsibility, keep our promises and work with quality, integrity and ownership on an organisation people can trust.