Manchester Magic is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 team from Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, competing in the English Basketball League

English Basketball League

The English Basketball League is a semi-professional and amateur basketball league in England. It forms the second-tier of competition below the professional British Basketball League....

, Division 3. They play their home games at the Amaechi Basketball Centre, which was funded by former NBA star John Amaechi

John Amaechi

John Uzoma Ekwugha Amaechi OBE is a retired American-born British basketball player who currently works as a psychologist, educator and political activist in Europe and the United States....

.

In April 2007, they formally rejected an offer to join the British Basketball League

British Basketball League

The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....

, instead choosing to remain in the second-tier semi-professional EBL Division 1, along with Worthing Thunder

Worthing Thunder

Worthing Thunder is a basketball team from Worthing, England. Founded in 1999, until recently they competed in the top-tier British Basketball League, having previously having dominated the lower leagues in recent years, winning back-to-back English Basketball League Division One titles in 2006 and...

 and Reading Rockets

Reading Rockets

Reading Rockets is a basketball club based in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Currently Reading Rockets play in the English Basketball League Division 1. Reading Rockets work with around 1,000 young players every week in Berkshire...

.http://www.uktvslam.tv/page/SlamLogin/BBLNews/0,,10023~1014016,00.html

After a long tenure in the top tier of the English Basketball League

English Basketball League

The English Basketball League is a semi-professional and amateur basketball league in England. It forms the second-tier of competition below the professional British Basketball League....

, the team decided to play in Division 3 for the 2011-12 season. According to club director Joe Forber, the club's intention is "to forge a much closer link between the youngsters... and the men's team". http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/basketball/s/1419012_manchester-magic-to-withdraw-from-ebl1

External links

• Official Manchester Magic website