Basketball: Danum Eagles withdraw from National League

The Doncaster club, relegated last season, had been struggling at the wrong end of Division Three.

Eagles’ men’s team were elected to the NBL in 2014 and gained back-to-back promotions in their first two seasons, jumping from Division Four to Division Two.

But a downward spiral followed after being forced to play their home games at The Pods in Scunthorpe in order to satisfy league requirements.

Last year the club ended their 17-year association with Danum School as a result of cost-saving measures by Outwood Grange Academies Trust.

Head coach Bob Martin has vowed that the Eagles will return to the NBL but no timescale has been given.

The club’s successful Mini Eagles programme - which attracts hundreds of youngsters every week - will continue.

Martin said: “After two consecutive promotion seasons the Eagles have been unable to secure the financial backing needed to survive at the highest level.

“It was a very difficult decision to have to make considering the success these young men have brought to the club and the town itself.

“Danum Eagles will continue our Mini Eagles programme which works with over 600 players each week.

“We will be back.

“As head coach it is probably the low point of my 21 years here.

“There is only one thing to do - work hard and come back stronger.”

Upon joining the National League, Eagles blew away their opposition in Division Four and then Division Three. Club officials harboured ambitions of reaching the BBL and bringing big time basketball back to Doncaster.

But life in the second tier proved notably tougher - a challenge not made any easier by the switch to Scunthorpe.

This season they had been playing home matches at Sir Thomas Wharton Academy in Edlington.