A BARNSLEY basketball team has been praised for its international appeal.

In recent years, people from around the globe have made Barnsley their home.

And basketball coach Bert Beaumont says one thing which has the ability to unite youngsters regardless of their nationality is the sport of basketball.

While football tends to be the standard school sport in England, elsewhere in the world basketball is incredibly popular.

And Bert, who runs the Leaders as one of only two South Yorkshire teams to compete at a national level, often is the first port of call for young people wanting to stay involved in the sport after moving to this area.

This year’s Leaders team has players from Romania, Iran and even the East African Republic of Burundi.

The team has been nominated for a Young Champions award.

Bert said: “It is the international game, basketball. In Britain football is the big game but if you go international, most play basketball at a school level - which is different in England.

“When they come from abroad they probably have got a background and quite often started because their parents have played.

“A lad from Romania got in touch within six weeks of landing here.

“The team gets on very well together which is amazing to see. I’m an internationalist myself and what I’ve found is that prejudice against the international players is always from people who haven’t actually met them. The ones who have would never say anything bad about them.

“They work very cohesively together. In the past, ten years ago, a Barnsley team would only have met international players when they played against another team like the Leeds Tigers. But now there is a real international community in Barnsley. And now we have a parent who runs a Facebook group who does films of the games for them to watch and share.

“Our motto is ‘Aim to be a leader’. And we have another, ‘win with modesty and lose with dignity’. They are a team of teenage lads so they are always going to get upset and a bit frustrated if they lose. But they do try and keep on the right path and they do Barnsley proud.

“They are players who have perhaps just started in their first and final season as under 16s, going against other teams who have played as under 12s and under 14s previously. In basketball playing at that level, it is usually the fact they they will have two or three seasons under their belt.

“We don’t win so many because of the situation that we are disparate in terms of the experience level - but not in the way the team gets along and works with each other.”

The Leaders run coaching sessions for boys and girls aged from seven to 16 and welcome newcomers to their weekly sessions.

They are held on Tuesdays at Netherwood Academy from 4.30-6pm for years three to eight and new older players, and from 6-8pm for the under 16s squad.

No previous experience is necessary to attend the 4.30pm sessions. Visit www.barnsleyleaders.co.uk or email barnsleyleaders@googlemail.com for more information.