Basketball
Bermondsey basketball coach awarded British Empire Medal after founding highly-successful academy
A Bermondsey basketball coach has been awarded a British Empire Medal for founding one of the nation’s most successful academies.
Jackson Gibbons, basketball director at the City of London Academy (CoLA) school, said he was “extremely grateful” for the prestigious prize.
Founded in 2013, CoLA Southwark Basketball Academy, has had a transformative impact on basketball coaching in the UK at both grassroots and elite levels.
The academy has teams ranging from the under-12s to sixth formers, plus a community club.
Jackson has guided his pupils to unprecedented success, with victories in multiple national championships.
In the 2023-24 season alone, the U17 Girls and U19 Girls became National Champions, while the U19 Boys finished National Runners-Up.
Over the past decade, the Academy has won 33 national titles.
Through his coaching and mentorship, Jackson has supported over 90 students, many from disadvantaged backgrounds, to gain full scholarships to US universities.
Jackson Gibbons, BEM, said: “I feel extremely grateful to be acknowledged in this year’s honours list.
“It truly is a testament to being surrounded by such an amazing support network and some phenomenally brilliant young people who make the journey so worth it, without whom there wouldn’t be a programme at CoLA Southwark.
“I’m looking forward to the direction the program is moving in and impacting many more lives through basketball.”
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