A team that never looked likely to take to the court finished the season in style as Oaklands Wolves U-12 girls wrapped up their campaign with a pair of wins over the weekend.
The Wolves' original plan had been to run a combined U-14/12 side in the East Conference alongside their U-14 Premier team, but when it became clear this wouldn't work, they were left with a group of U-12 girls without a team or league to play in.
Negotiations with Basketball England went well, and just two days before the season was due to start – and almost four months after the deadline for entry – they were accepted into the National League Under-12 South Division.
With no pre-season games, they played their first match just over a fortnight later, and it proved to be a baptism of fire as they made their longest trip of the season to Southampton for a game against Solent Kestrels.
With only six players making the trip, their situation worsened before the game when some overzealous officiating meant that one player was prevented from playing due to having a taped-over ear stud, leaving Wolves with no substitutes. By late in the third period – with Wolves leading – two players had left the game after collecting their fifth personal fouls, and they were left with the incredible situation of playing the final 12 minutes with just three players. They were outscored by 14 points in the final quarter and lost 56-42.
The squad slowly gained more players, and they won their first game with a 64-40 victory against Essex Charge. However, a reluctance from opposing clubs to squeeze two games into their schedules meant that by the end of January – with two-thirds of the season having passed – the young Wolves had played just five of their 18 games.
The final weeks of the season proved to be hectic, but they managed to squeeze 12 games into just nine weeks, with the final weekend proving to be the most successful, as they won two games in the space of just 26 hours. It went down to the last shot at Charge, as Wolves ran out 52-51 winners, before they – fittingly – rounded off the campaign with a revenge 49-43 win against Solent in a game that was tied with 90 seconds on the clock.
The Wolves finished the season with a 4-13 record, placing seventh in the 10-team league, despite one game going unplayed.
"Coaching the under-12s has been not only a pleasure, but also a big learning opportunity for me," said coach Maria Albeiro. "Communicating with kids and teaching them the game I love and have played for so long has been rewarding and humbling. Watching them grow, not just in skill, but in confidence and teamwork, has been incredible. I’ve also really appreciated their support coming to our games and giving me lots of love! I’ve really grown to love these kids."
"We're incredibly proud of how coach Maria and the girls have done this season," said Wolves' secretary Dave Ryan. "Basketball England deserve credit for helping it to happen. They were under no obligation to let us into the league so late, but it meant an extra group of girls got to play regular basketball and the other nine teams had a couple of extra games.
"When I looked at the fixture list in mid-January, I never thought we'd get so many games played. Professional players moan about two games in a weekend, but they did that three times and also travelled to Milton Keynes on a Friday evening. After the first few games, we've never been short of players – they've kept turning up, and I'm absolutely delighted for them that they finished with a couple of wins."
