About London Basketball Association

WHO ARE WE?

London Basketball Association is a registered charity, established in July 2012. We are a small but intensely committed organisation, built up and employing directly from the very communities within which we work. We operate within the ‘sport for development’ sector and aim to bring positive social change in areas such as health and wellbeing, substance misuse and employment, through the powerful medium of sport, and basketball specifically.

THE MISSION

1. Improve live’s through encouraging and facilitating a healthier life style
2. Increase employment in deprived and disadvantaged communities through vocational training and work experience
3. Help cut social costs by tackling prevalent issues such as health and wellbeing, obesity and crime.

THE VISION

Through the sport of basketball we will benefit and unite thousands of beneficiaries from disadvantaged and deprived communities and will attribute to cutting costs to society. We will develop a high quality infrastructure allowing basketball to grow efficiently and to become accessible and affordable to all.

ACCOLADES & QUALITY ASSURANCE

Among many other awards, we have attained the “Active Westminster Club Mark” and “London Youth Gold Mark”, two prestigious seals of approval for our work within our communities.

YOUR VIEWS COUNT

If you have any questions, feedback or ideas please contact us and let us know.

BE THE CHANGE!

TONY LAZARE   |   A.K.A. “TONY STARK”

A persistent man who has a desire to help others through basketball and has done so ever since he left High School in the year 2000. As a young entrepreneur, Tony has developed a wide range of skills including policymaking, fundraising, coaching and management. To mention some of his achievements he started his first business in 2007 and was also one of the founders and developers of London Pioneers Basketball Club. Fuse all this together and LBA is born, well equipped and determined to improve people’s lives through basketball, Tony Lazare is making that change. As a young boy he was very sporty and understands the power of sport on an individual’s life. A quote he lives by “Talent is very common, disciplined talent is very rare”.

BIJAN HAKIMIAN   |   A.K.A. “SPIDERMAN”

Bijan is currently working as a Senior Policy Advisor for the UK Government, specializing in international trade. He holds an undergraduate degree from SOAS, University of London and then a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge, specializing in Middle Eastern politics. Bijan has been actively involved in the London basketball community since he began playing the game at age 10 in Haringey. Having coached for the LBA at summer camps and half term camps, he then went onto to serve as Head Coach for Edmonton and Hackney U14 teams for the London School of Basketball. At university, he was captain of the SOAS Men’s Team and was the Women’s Team Head Coach.

His favorite basketball player is Chris Paul. Bijan agrees with Chris who embodies the school of thought that if you “hate losing more than you love winning” you can really unlock your athletic potential. Bijan says that “ You can’t be a good point guard without being able to take a step back and see the game like a coach”.

CHRIS SOPRANO   |   A.K.A. “DR. BRUCE BANNER”

Chris  is The Doctor… Dr. Bruce Banner… aka The Hulk.He has a very diverse vocational background that includes accounting, sales, technology and management. These skills add to the diverse skill set to the LBA staff and board. Chris says “My favourite basketball player was Julius Erving otherwise known as Dr J. First of all, I love players with nicknames, but it is the fact that he transcended the game off the court and was responsible for leaving the game in a better way then when they found it. Basketball was just a vehicle for The Doctor to help heal some of the social wounds that existed in society just as is the mission of the LBA”.He strongly believes that Basketball has not just added value to his life on the court, but off of it as well. It’s been a means to an end. It has been a source of many of his life long friends and has given him the tools to achieve a successful business career. According to him Basketball teaches so many things that one can take with them in their personal and career journey including the value of hard work, discipline, teamwork and most importantly.. having fun.

AKAY MUSTAFA   |   A.KA. “DR. STRANGE”

Akay holds the Master’s degree in Sports Management from Birkbeck, University of London.  Currently, he is the Athletic Director at American School in London and he has worked in education and sport for many years.  He believes that his work as an athletic director requires him to be a strategic project manager capable of keeping multiple stakeholders happy. He wishes to bring those skills to the LBA, in order to help shape the strategy needed which will allow the group to continue to progress. Steve Nash is Akay’s favorite basketball player, He likes him because…” he had an incredible vision but most importantly he was a brave player. To summarize he just made things happen in ways you didn’t think were possible.”

TONY WINDLESS

An American retired professional basketball player with a notable career stretching over a decade in the British Basketball League. He also played professionally in France for 4 seasons. From Memphis, Tennessee, United States, Windless studied at Cowley County Community College and played small forward position. Tony won every team trophy possible and has conquered almost everything he has encountered in his career. There aren’t too many opponents who can say they’ve bettered the boy from Tennessee. One of his ex-teams Leicester Riders posed the question in an article “So what now for the man who has lived and breathed basketball ever since he was 7 years old?” A shift to developing the sport of basketball, he has been coaching for a long time now even still during his playing days. But now at LBA he will be able to affect more people by bringing the experience and knowledge of the industry and leading by example to help guide the company in the best direction for the greater good of all.