A REQUEST for help from one of her pupils at Yarlside Academy led to Joanne Holmes discovering a passion for basketball she never knew existed.

From being a complete novice, having barely even watched the sport, the teacher has wholeheartedly thrown herself into coaching and is now heavily involved with encouraging the next generation of players in the area both in schools and at Barrow Thorns.

Holmes is now a fully-qualified coach after two years of overseeing the Yarlside team, but would never have got involved in basketball had it not been for one of her students who trained with the Thorns asking if they could play in school too.

“I’ve always enjoyed the fitness side of things and encouraging children to get into it, so I said yes, I’d give up my time to encourage the children to get into it,” said Holmes.

“It was very beneficial because the children in our school loved it and thrived off it. It gave both boys and girls the ability to join in with something they thought they couldn’t do to begin with.

“The coaching course came up and I thought ‘why not?’. I’ve found a passion for something I probably wouldn’t have if someone hadn’t have said ‘Mrs Holmes, will you help me with this?’.”

Guiding Yarlside to victory in the area’s primary school league during her first year running the team gave Holmes an extra incentive to discover as much as she can, finally taking the plunge and signing up for the Basketball England coaching course.

“The first year we did it with the school, we won the league and there was so much passion from the children, even them talking strategies and saying ‘Miss, what do we do if this happens?’,” said Holmes.

“I wanted them to have enjoyment and fun, but that turned into wins and the more they won, the more they had this passion deep down.

“To end the league knowing we won, and me having no background in basketball, that spurred me on to find out more about it.”

But whether it is at school or coaching with Thorns senior team players Mike Bowker and Mike Jeffrey in their beginner sessions at Hoops on Tuesday evenings, Holmes is just happy to see children enjoying basketball.

“It’s given me a new lease of life, but to see the children getting something out of it is fantastic,” said Holmes.

“They apply themselves so much and you can see the enjoyment, and week on week you can see how much they’re developing.

“They’re children from the whole area, forging new friendships and developing a skill at the same time.”