The European Championships take place on 11-19th August as part of the European Para Championships in Rotterdam. Main image Photo Credit: BWB / SA Images

The last time fans saw Team GB’s Robyn Love out on court she was lifting the Women’s Premier League Playoff Final trophy in May after the Loughborough Lightning beat the East London Phoenix (75-47) for the second season in a row. Captain of the team, and having notched up a near triple double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists, and an integral part of Team GB since 2015, Love had announced her retirement from international competition in the week leading up to the Finals and would not be part of the squad that was headed to the World Championships in Dubai the following month.

Also absent from the World Championships was 3 time Paralympian and defensive menace Laurie Williams, who took time away after giving birth to her and Love’s first child earlier this year. The end of an era some may have thought, well think again! As Team GB announced the squad for the upcoming European Championships this week two familiar names jumped out: “Robyn Love and Laurie Williams!” That’s right, they’re back! After a period of reflection on her decision and some time spent with family, Love decided to make herself available for selection as did Williams, much to the delight of fans across the Basketball world!

Speaking with FocusHoops, Williams fills us in on what led to their decision. “You (Robyn)…were missing Basketball and you wanted to go back and for me as well, the prospect of returning with Robs was hard to say no to.” Love elaborates: “For me Tokyo (2020 Paralympics but delayed until 2021) was a pretty tough experience…we didn’t really perform how we wanted to perform and I think since then I carried this weight on me to be honest. From then we didn’t really have a break, the European Championships straight away…then Commonwealth Games so…I’ve just not had a pause and I really do think all athletes should take a pause. Mine came at a good time having Alba to be there for, which I really appreciated, and I played a bit of tennis which I’m very grateful for that opportunity, it’s something I wanted to do all my life be a tennis player and I’ve done that but I think for me as a person, I’m a team player, I’m a team sport kind of girl…so for me taking that time and honestly just choosing myself. I chose myself, I chose my family. I just needed a short pause.”

Love’s impact on court and her all-round game is undeniable, a player who can get it done on both ends of the floor, she finished the Women’s Premier League season averaging 17.8 ppg, 10.7 rpg and 8.0 apg, leading the league in assists and 2 point percentage (61.3%) and dropped a 35 point triple double (13 rebounds, 10 assists) against Cardiff in February. Having her back will certainly be a boost to Team GB as they embark on the road to Paris 2024 Paralympic qualification: the teams that make it to the final 2 are in.

Speaking about being back in camp Williams noted: “Coming back in it’s quite refreshing, I’ve definitely seen a big shift in the culture within the team, the girls are a lot more confident, it’s just really, really positive and the atmosphere is a really nice one to be about. Sometimes its difficult to come off the back of a tough tournament like we experienced in Tokyo but they just seem to have made progress here, there and everywhere and I think it puts us in really good stead for qualifying for Paris. I’m just really glad I made the decision and we were able to get to a point where we thought we could be back on the team.”

Love agrees: “The prep has just been fantastic with Miguel (Vaquero Maestre, GB Head Coach), Jorge (Borba, Assistant Coach) and the girls and I really do think that we’re really ready to just jump into it and hit the ground running on Friday.”

Adding Williams and her tenacious defence back into a team that also features tough defenders Sophie Carrigill and Charlie Moore makes GB a difficult prospect for teams to matchup against. GB held both Brazil and Canada to below their ppg average in Dubai and as a team who like to play fast and get out in transition, the ability of Carrigill and Moore to get stops and seek out players like Joy Haizelden, who is as quick a player as you’ll see all tournament, on the break means other teams will need to keep up with GB’s pace.

June’s World Championships saw some players, including Maddie Martin, get their first senior call ups for GB. Martin hit her first points against China in the group stages and displayed her quick paced ball movement a few days later with 4 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in a placing win against Thailand. Martin was part of the title winning Loughborough Lightning team this year and is looking forward to next week’s tournament: “I’m just excited to build with the team, we set a good foundation in Dubai and to be able to build off that is amazing. Obviously we add Robyn and Laurie into that and that’s incredible for the team.”

Martin now counts players she watched, and was inspired by at the 2012 London Paralympics, such as Williams and Helen Freeman, as her teammates. Freeman countinues to show why she is one of the games great players as she led GB in points (16.7), rebounds (9.7) and assists (10.2) back at the World Championships. Further representation from the Lightning in Siobhan Fitzpatrick and Lucy Robinson (who averaged 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in GBs last two games in Dubai), provide the squad with valuable familiarity. Like Martin, Fitzpatrick shined against Thailand as she logged her tournament high 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. While another familiar face in Kayla Bell provides GB with consistent power on the boards and experience.

Also representing Team GB is Cardiff Met Archers and 2023 Women’s Premier League Player of the Year Jade Atkin, who has been making a name for herself on the domestic and international stages. Averaging 19.0 ppg (2nd overall), 11.6 rpg (3rd), 2.7 apg (9th) and a league leading 2.8 spg, Rotterdam will be her third senior tournament after debuting at the 2021 European Championships in Madrid. For Atkin the experience in Dubai was really positive and she’s ready for the next challenge “After worlds I’ve never felt so motivated to get back to it, and get ready for Euros and work hard...I’m excited to just play, to get out on court, be part of the team and get that feeling we all got in Dubai.”

Heading into her first senior competition this time round is Anastasia Blease. Blease, also with the Lightning squad this season, captained Wales in their Commonwealth Games qualifiers last year and finished the WPL regular season with a bang as she grabbed a season high 18 rebounds, along with 10 points and 6 assists against Worcester.

With a stacked squad full of established and rising stars, Team GB will be a force to be reckoned with once they get out on court, with an eye on an historic gold and Paris qualification, once the ball goes up on Friday morning, they’re ready for anything and you won’t want to miss a minute of it!

Watch our full interviews with Robyn Love and Laurie Williams and Jade Atkin and Maddie Martin on our Youtube channel.

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The European Para Championships will be streaming every game on their dedicated website. Find out more about the EPC2023 here: https://europeanparachampionships.com/