Raiders Launch Academy With City College

Plymouth Raiders can today announce the launch of our new Academy with City College Plymouth. Renewing a partnership built on over a decade of collaboration, the club are delighted to partner with the College and to support an ever growing group of talented players there under the stewardship of Coach George Hatchell to help provide further pathway opportunities to players across the City.

On the new partnership Raiders Ross Mackenzie added, "It’s fantastic to be able to announce this exciting partnership as it has been in the works for many months, and continues our long history together."

"The College are significant supporters of sport in Plymouth and with Raiders they also recognise that we're going places together in the seasons ahead. I'd also like to thank all of our partners too with SunGift Solar, CityBus and Ivor Dewdney who locally have joined Raiders to support our efforts with the College and our other development and social engagement ambitions."

"I’ve always been clear about this, our success and progression in the National League in this new era for Raiders will be dependent on players locally knowing they have a team that they can realistically aspire towards without having to leave Plymouth as we've seen in recent years."

"We will be providing additional coaching so young people at CCP and future entrants in 2024/25 onwards will have access to more basketball opportunities at the College as we go forward."

"So, this is the first step towards creating our own group of young players that can look to our Raiders first team for inspiration. Players wanting to join City College in future years know they can look to a future where pulling on the famous green jersey in National League Men’s competition, if they work hard enough, can become something they can reach for. Plymouth hasn’t had that for a long time.”

Liam Stevens, Curriculum Lead & Development Officer for Sports and Public Services, said of the partnership: "Working with Plymouth Raiders has been something I've been keen to re-establish since I joined City College Plymouth and this week, we made it happen. The impact Raiders have had on our students has been clear from the very beginning and the level of training and expertise are second to none." 

"Our sport curriculum is constantly evolving and partnering with seasoned players, coaches and staff from Raiders informs not only the knowledge we're able to pass on to our students, but inspires them to explore diverse roles within the industry. From becoming a player or a coach to a therapist or analyst, their options are endless."

"This partnership not only enhances the students' academic experience but also provides them with the invaluable chance to interact with the team's coaches and players. It opens doors for them that weren't possible before and we could even see them playing for the Raiders first team some day!"