Long after the school day has finished and students have gone home, the Urswick School – formerly Hackney Free – is still abuzz with the sound of basketballs being dribbled. Above the noise, the commanding voice of coach Ashley Fagan-Cooper can be heard, guiding his players through their drills.
From watching him stop a few of those struggling with their technique, his relationship with the players is clear. They listen intently, trying to pick up any extra information that Ashley may have for them as he talks through the drill, step-by-step.
According to Ashley, it’s the players’ attitudes which make the whole thing worth it. “Running a basketball club and trying to balance my family and my work can be very difficult, as my family see it as giving my time to others,” he says. Still, they understand the club’s importance to him and respect that he has something of a second family, one that needs him just as much at times.
When pressed further about the pressures of running a basketball club, he reveals his frustration at not being able to do more. Without the funding that other teams in the country receive, Ashley struggles to get new equipment for training and games. It is tough to enforce payment of subscriptions on players who already have little money. The club instead have to launch their own fundraising campaigns. They recently hosted a three-on-three basketball tournament, inviting former players back to take part and compete with current players.
This is an issue for basketball in England more generally, he says. “We cannot show growth as a club or as a country, as we struggle to improve without the money needed to fund these improvements.” He believes frustration has been building for years and is present throughout English basketball.
Ashley hopes that he can continue building what he has, but knows that it might come with some sacrifices. He explains that for the club to start competing for championships in the Premier division of the National League, he might have to start turning away players if they do not match the standard he is looking for. The club currently has both male and female teams in the Community Basketball League (CBL) as well as a male U16 team in the National Basketball League. But if they are to match their aspirations of joining the top level of the national leagues, coach Ashley will be forced to make some difficult decisions.
However, he is not concerned with the negative impact this could have on his reputation within the community. “I know that people cannot change their view on me. I have done so much for the community and the kids within it that growing the club could not possibly be a negative thing for me,” he says. It’s not a display of arrogance, just a man understanding what his team means for the community and how he has affected others’ lives.
Ashley’s relationship with basketball is what guided his vision for the club when he created it. He was born and raised in East London and, by his own admission, had friends who “went down the wrong path”. He attributes much of his life’s success to basketball. He took up basketball when he was 15, after being introduced to Richard Fergus, head coach of Hackney White Heat. “If I didn’t have this game, I know where I would be,” he tells me. It was this experience that led him to create Hackney Royals following his playing career, in order to provide players with the same chances that he was granted.
While he has new goals for the club, Ashley maintains that there is one thing that will always stay the same. “It’s bigger than the sport. It’s about developing young men into better people.” He takes pride in his ability to develop young men through basketball, and has helped numerous players to attend university when all the odds seemed against them.
He has learned to adapt in order to help players, and says that the concept of discipline and how to practise it has changed dramatically. “It’s no longer useful to be heavy handed with players. I have to understand other aspects of their lives and take that into account when trying to get them to train and become better.”
During our conversation, Ashley never once neglects players who come over asking for help. He has always put the young men who turn up to training at the forefront of his thinking, and wants them to feel as though they have a safe space where the coach cares about their personal wellbeing, as well as their ability to play sport.
“For me, it’s about building a second home and family for these kids, and showing them that people do care, even when it seems that the world is against them,” he says. He believes that players now are less mature than in previous years and that makes his job a little harder, but he is willing to do whatever it takes to keep them off the streets.
The coach invited me into the huddle at the end of the training session. His speech reflects everything that he has said throughout our conversation. As his players prepare for an important game on Sunday, Ashley makes sure that they remain focused on their school work and that they all maintain sight of their goals, both inside and outside of the sport.
