Basketball NI Board > Strategy Team & Marketing

Heather Wright

As you can imagine – we are delighted when someone volunteers to join our board here at Basketball NI. But it is even more exciting when we can recruit someone from outside of the basketball community to help bring new prospectives to the table.

Join us as we welcome our next new addition in the IFA’s Heather Wright.

Heather has been working in the The Irish Football Association for nearly 7 years now with vast experience in International Administration, Branding, Marketing and Fundraising. We are so excited to welcome her to the Basketball NI board.

Here’s a little more about Heather – Give her a like below and show your support.

Name: Heather Wright

Board Role: Strategy Team & Marketing

Club Association: n/a – No links to basketball clubs.

Favourite thing to do?

Sing! Watch or play football and play hockey.

What is your Favourite Film?

The Lion King. The lifelong Good vs Evil battle with good obviously winning in the end – doesn’t matter that it’s a kids movie!

Favourite Sporting Moment?

As a player winning promotion to Premier League with Portadown Ladies hockey team on penalties against Belfast Harlequins. We went in to the match as underdogs and everyone had written us off before the game started. Playing in an all-ireland final was amazing but we were second best that day so I have mixed memories there. As a fan – without doubt it would have to be Northern Ireland’s EURO2016 journey.

Can you tell us something about yourself that we wouldn’t already know?

I’m a qualified hockey umpire and football referee and have officiated 4 cup finals recently. I’ve completed 5 marathons, 15 Great North Runs (14 with my sister!) and hoping to be back in Tyneside later this year for #16. I’d like to do a marathon in Paris or Berlin perhaps.

If you can invite 4 people to dinner who would they be?

William Booth (founded my church – The Salvation Army), Alan Shearer (greatest Premier League striker ever), Pavarotti (for entertainment, I regret that I didn’t get to hear him sing when he visited Belfast) and my mum. If I had those three round and didn’t invite her she’d be gutted!

What advice would you give to your teenage self, knowing what you know today?

Listen to others, take different perspectives on board but once you shape your conclusion, believe in your own opinion.

What are your hopes for the future for basketball in Northern Ireland?

I would love to see more basketball being played, at even stronger clubs. There is also room for more coverage and visibility for the sport as this will ultimately inspire more people to play basketball.

Basketball NI has to build systems to support this and ensure that staff, coaches, clubs and schools have everything they need in place to see basketball flourish further into the future.

We need to secure serious funding that allows us to step up to markers laid down by other sports and I’m excited to be apart of the journey and to see how basketball can grow here in Northern Ireland.