The Hoopsfix Foundation today announces the appointment of four new board members as it prepares to head into its next phase of growth.

With an updated mission statement and articles of association, the new board will help align and drive the organisation forward to maximise the Foundation’s impact on British basketball.

Former England international Steve Nelson, will take on the Chair role, and is joined by Dr Natalie Campbell, Richard Frost, and Faith Okwuosa, as the board has decades of combined experience across the private and public sectors whilst all being passionate basketball advocates.

“I’m hugely excited about our new additions to the board,” said Sam Neter, who will report to the Foundation board as Executive Director.

“There is a wealth of opportunity within British basketball to make lasting change, and with the wealth of experience and expertise of our board, I think the Foundation has the potential to be at the forefront of that.”

Steve Nelson – Chair

Steve Nelson, a former England international and professional basketball player of 15 years, is Chief Executive of the West of England Sport Trust (Wesport),

Previously head of development for England Basketball, he has created the County Sports Partnership for Sussex, and Wesport and has held numerous non-executive roles in the sport, culture and voluntary sectors.

Steve works regularly at a national level within the Active Partnerships network, and in his voluntary roles. He is a member of the Sport Think Tank Advisory Group, an independent network dedicated to thorough and insightful thinking around sporting policy in the UK. Steve has also worked on a consultancy basis for UK Sport as part of the International Inspiration programme, working in India and Trinidad and Tobago.

Outside of work, he has been a volunteer basketball coach at regional, county, and junior national league level, with his team crowned under 18 men’s national champions in 2011. He has developed and supported more than a dozen players that have gone on to represent England or GB, including his son and daughter, Luke and Kyla, both of whom are GB Senior internationals.

Steve’s knowledge and experience will contribute to the foundation through his extensive knowledge of sports and the public sector, not-for-profit operations, management, performance and grassroots basketball, and sporting policy.

Dr Natalie Campbell – Director

Natalie is a chartered psychologist specialising in developing subjective health and well-being through targeted intervention. She has worked across high performance sport and higher education for over 10 years, and is currently based at the University of Gloucester as a Senior Lecturer.

A sports academic, a leadership consultant and a published author, Natalie is also a volunteer Special Olympic coach and a trustee.

Within sport, she has worked as a performance psychologist and a performance lifestyle coach for a number of national athletes, teams and squads, primarily in her role with the English Institute of Sport for almost 5 years. Within higher education, she specialises in teaching on Sport & Exercise Science degrees, with a particular focus on social psychology, athlete wellbeing and mental health, developing cultures of care, and team dynamics.

A former player, Natalie has played at Thames Valley Tigers, Reading Rockets, Plymouth Raiders, BUCS, and London Westside, whilst also being a Level 2 Basketball England qualified coach. She hung up her boots when she moved to Bath and had her 2 daughters.

Natalie’s knowledge and experience will contribute to the foundation through strategic development of acquiring funding grants, delivering research projects, and communicating impact and evaluation of projects.

Richard Frost – Director

Richard is a brand consultant and founder of First Five Marketing, with over 14 years cross-functional experience in the sports industry.

Having previously spent more than a decade at Nike, leading the full-funnel brand engagement strategy, as well as lifecycle membership and affiliate projects for the UK’s most played Team and Specialty sports including Basketball, Rugby, Football, Netball, Cricket, Golf, Tennis, Skate and American Football.

Past projects have included working with iconic clubs, federations and athletes to launch industry leading apparel, footwear and brand narrative for World Cups, European Championships, Champions League Finals and Olympic Games; all with the ultimate goal of growing capacity for more people to enjoy sport on their terms.

Richard’s knowledge and experience will contribute to the foundation through input on brand strategy & positioning, consumer insights, product and campaign marketing, along with creative and media planning.

Faith Okwuosa – Director

Faith is a Brunel University graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and a Master’s degree in Design and Branding Strategy, who went on to pursue her career in Technology and building exciting digital products.

With a near decade of experience across digital teams in the capacity of a Developer, Scrum Master, Software Tester, and now a Product Manager, Faith has been responsible for and/or been a part of the development team for many successful digital products and has also received recognition in her field after being shortlisted for the UK eCommerce Rising Star Award (2019).

Faith has been involved in basketball for the last 15 years as a Coach, Team Manager, Referee, Table Official, Statistician, and player at all levels in the U.K (WBBL, NBL, Local league).

Faith continuously supports the growth of basketball in this country by offering her knowledge, skillset, and time to clubs and organisations within the community, including our very own Hoopsfix All-Star Classic.

Faith’s knowledge and experience will contribute to the foundation through input on all technology-focused projects, advising on user interface and user experience, technologies, product, and development cycles.

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The Foundation had its first board meeting this month, and outlined immediate priorities, which includes two funding bids that will be submitted in the coming weeks.