By James Wynn
A budding sports reporter has been given his first chance by a Leicester sports club.
Jake Tomkinson, a student at Staffordshire University, was given the task of producing video content for the British Basketball League (BBL) and the Leicester Riders following an interview at the home of the four-time champions, the Morningside Arena.
This will involve many visits to Riders’ games for Jake, a big basketball fan who hopes to report on the sport full-time when he achieves his degree next year.
“I’ve loved basketball since the age of eight or nine, when the Memphis Grizzlies started the ‘Grit and Grind’ era, and I’ve supported them ever since,” he said.
“I’m really looking forward to this opportunity, the Riders are one of the best basketball teams in this country, so it will be a great experience for me.”
Leicester Riders won the BBL in 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2018, and have also enjoyed playing in European fixtures in recent years. They have proven just last month that they provide a good stepping stone into bigger things, with former content editor Joe Pinchin recently moving to the one of the sport’s most famous franchises, the Chicago Bulls in the NBA.
This is something that Jake hopes to replicate at some point in the future.
“I always knew this is something I wanted to do, but as a big football fan, that seemed like the obvious step. However, there are so many opportunities involved in basketball, it seemed like a sensible thing to try.
“I’m really looking forward to producing content and enhancing the skills I’ve learned so far.”
