Meet the 62-year-old basketball player aiming to represent Great Britain at the European Championships

Keith White is set to be part of the over 60s Great Britain team that will take part in the FIMBA Maxi Basketball European Championship held in Malaga between June 24 and July 3.

The tournament was originally set to go ahead in 2020 before being rescheduled to 2021 but had to be postponed on both occasions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Keith, who still plays basketball every Sunday morning at Newcastle’s Vertu Motors Arena, only got back involved in the sport around three years ago and he hopes that his story can inspire others to get into sport later in life.

He said: “When I learned about FIMBA, I had to go for trials at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester.

"Initially all I wanted to achieve was to start playing again, so when I was selected to play as part of the over 60s team, that was just a massive achievement.

"To know that you’re at the top of the game in the country for your age bracket is incredible and I hope that my story can resurge other peoples interests in sport.

"It proves that no matter what age you are, you can get active and continue to play competitive sport.”

Now that the tournament looks set to go ahead, Keith is fundraising £1,000 to help cover some of the costs relating to training, kit, entry fees, flights, and accommodation.

He added: “The whole thing is self-funded and it gets expensive as we have overnight stays for training camps around the country.

"Last month we were in Aberdeen and I think we’ve got trips to Birmingham and Bristol coming up so the cost quickly adds up and that is before we’ve even gone to Malaga.

"I wasn’t sure how the fundraising would go as I’ve never done anything like this before however I’ve been quite surprised at the size of some of the donations that have been coming in.”

If you wish to support Keith’s fundraiser, then you can do so by clicking here.

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