2025/26 Coach Lineup Announced; Joel Keeble to coach Senior Men

There is a coaching re-shuffle ahead of 25/26 campaign, with the headline being Joel Keeble appointed as Senior Men’s Head Coach

With the 2024/2025 season now complete, Endeavour Ipswich Basketball Club turn their attention to the 2025/2026 season, with a number of changes to the clubs Junior and Senior coaching staff.

The club will again enter teams into every age group of the National League, with U14, U16 and U18 boys and girls as well as Senior teams. In addition, we will be entering teams into U12 and U13 mixed competitions, in conjunction with our community partners, Playground2Pro – with players attending weekly ‘Centre of Excellence’ sessions.

The Senior Women’s team will aim to have another successful season under the guidance of Club Head Coach Nick Drane, who led the team to a second successive National Cup win, while also finishing as runners in both the regular season and WNBL Division One playoffs, while National Championship winning coach, Harriet Welham also returns to head up the U18 women.

The U16 girls welcome a new play caller to the sidelines, as Femi Ariyo makes the switch over to the girls side of the programme, while the U14 girls will again be led by Coach Drane.

On the opposite side of the programme, the recent recipient of the EIBC ‘Club Personality of the Year’ Tom Kelly takes on Head Coaching responsibility with the U18 Premier Men, while Dave Girling continues to work with the U14 boys.

The U16 boys will benefit from the experience of Coach Adam Robinson, who re-enters the junior programme to take over the development of one of the more talented generations of boys the club has had in recent years. Coach Robinson was the last Ipswich Coach to lead a boys team to the Final Fours, back in 2018, when his U16 side finished 3rd in the country.

This leaves the Senior Men, who will have a new voice calling the shots in 2025/2026, with last year’s Assistant Coach, Joel Keeble, stepping up to take on the role of Head Coach. Keeble is a product of the Ipswich junior programme, and was a key player on the original Ipswich Men’s team back in 2011, helping the team to back-to-back promotions from Division Four to Division Two. Joel played in, and captained, every junior age group for the club, was a part of the Copleston Basketball Academy team that made back-to-back EABL Final Fours in 2012 and 2013, and also represented England at the U16 European Championships in 2010. He is one of the most respected and established players to have come out of the Ipswich development pathway. Joel also spent time playing in America before ultimately returning to the UK, playing Division One basketball in Reading for several seasons. Joel is currently involved in the GB programme as a data scientist, contributing to the Senior Women and Junior combine programmes.

Club Head Coach Nick Drane said “I am really excited to have such an accomplished coaching staff working with the club this coming season. Finding the right people to guide our junior players is essential for the growth of our programme”

On the appointment of a new Men’s Head Coach, Drane added “Joel is Ipswich through and through, and understands the clubs pathway, from the u14’s right up to the academy and ultimately the Senior Men – he’s perfect for this role and will bring some fresh idea’s to the group”.

Pre-season training will start for the junior teams at the beginning of June, following the clubs trials on Saturday 24th May.

For details of the club trials, follow this link:

Club Trials 2025/26 - Join the Family!