It’s a slam dunk for Beccles pupils with visit from pro basketball player

Budding young sports stars at Beccles Primary Academy had a day to remember when a professional basketball player visited the school.

Joe Ikhinmwin, who plays for the London Lions, impressed the youngsters with his skills in a special event on Wednesday.

During his visit, the British Basketball League player coached the pupils through a range of exercises before talking to them about his career and experiences and showing them his moves.

Among those in the audience was Year 6 pupil Archie Waters, who said he was “excited” to be taking part in the event.

He added: “We’ve been doing exercises and working on our muscles, it was cool.

“It’s good to know how to properly take a shot.”

PE leader Amanda Clarke said everyone had been looking forward to the visit.

“The whole school has been so excited,” she said. “It’s really important to have events like this. “By getting someone like Joe in, who is an inspiration, it’s someone for the children to look up to.

“They can see from him what you can achieve if you start young and they’ve got something to aspire to.”

His visit was organised by the Sports for Schools campaign, set up to inspire the next generation of youngsters to take part in sport.

He also led a special assembly with a question and answer session, which pupils had been preparing for.

Mr Ikhinmwin said: “I hope my visit has inspired the kids to be more active and to achieve as much in sports as they can academically.

“I told them about my own experiences and hopefully they will remember this day.”

Is your school organising an event? Email the details to polly.grice@archant.co.uk.