Derby Trailblazers Basketball Club | |||
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League | EBL Division One | ||
Established | 2000 | ||
History |
Derby Trailblazers 2000-present |
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Arena |
Noel-Baker Sports Hall (Capacity: 500) |
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Location | Derby, Derbyshire | ||
Team colours | Black and Blue | ||
Head coach | Matt Shaw | ||
Ownership | Charlie Wright | ||
Website | DerbyTrailblazers.com | ||
Uniforms | |||
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The Derby Trailblazers are a basketball club from Derby, which operates several men's teams in the English Basketball League, not and women's and junior teams at a variety of levels. Their semi-professional Men's First Team compete in English Basketball League Division One, with a Second and Third team in Division Three (North) and Four (Midlands) respectively. The club were founded as a feeder club for the now-defunct Derby Storm, and wear the same blue and white colours as their predecessor. The Trailblazers play their home games at the Noel-Baker Sports Hall.
The Trailblazers were founded in 2000 to give local players access to competitive women's and junior basketball teams after the town's professional outfit, Derby Storm, ended their equivalent programmes to focus on their professional team, which was then competing in the British Basketball League. After the Storm closed down in 2002, the Trailblazers added men's basketball to their offering, and started to gradually work their way up the English Basketball League. Only a few years after entering a Mmen's team in the National League, the Trailblazers were crowned Champions of Division Two in 2007, and were promoted to Division One for the 2007/2008 season, along with the Taunton Tigers and Bristol Academy Flyers.
The team were successful in the second tier of British basketball, with the Trailblazers crowned Champions of Division One in 2010 with a 17-5 record, and winning the EBL Men's Trophy in 2012, beating Bristol Academy Flyers 87-60 in the final. This success was hard to sustain though, with the team winning only six league games in the 2012/2013 season, and suffering demotion back to Division Two as a result. However, 2013/2014 saw the Trailblazers win promotion back to Division One at the first attempt, winning Division Two with a game to spare.