Ipswich Basketball Club are relaunching their women’s team.

A powerhouse in the 1980s and 90s, the Ipswich Bobcats enjoyed success on a national scale before reluctantly withdrawing from the Senior National League, early in the new Millennium.

Ipswich did have a women’s team playing NBL between 2011 and 2016, but made the decision to not play in 2016/2017 for a variety of reasons, most notably because the team was struggling to find a suitable coach.

The relaunched team will be coached by Ipswich basketball head coach, Nick Drane, who recently stepped down from a similar position with the men’s team to concentrate more of his time on the overall development and growth of the club.

The team is coming back on the crest of a wave, with the club’s under-16s having been National League runners-up and the under-19 from the Copleston-based academy winning the National Cup.

“I’m really excited about this project,” said Drane.

“We launched the men’s team when the time was right. We had a core group of junior players to go with some excellent seniors and that gave us a foundation to build on.

“We have been waiting for this opportunity for a few years and there will never be a better time. The academy is key in all of this as it enables us to take players development to the next level.

“Combine that with some of the younger players in the club, and players that have graduated the programme and are now playing at University and I think we have a team that can make some real noise in the National League”.