"Sport has no language barriers. You can find friends, make your English better and become involved a bit more with your new country."
Those words are from Barnsley Leaders' first ever foreign basketball player Aivaras Vosylius.
He has happy reflections on the influence the sport and town has had on him since he first started playing the sport in Barnsley.
Nine years on, he has been joined by many other foreign-born players on the town's small number of basketball courts.
Youngsters from other countries consider basketball to be a bigger sport than it is in England so for sporty children moving to this area from abroad, Leaders' veteran coach Bert Beaumont is often a first port of call.
Whereas some foreign-born youngsters may feel marginalised in an unfamiliar town, perhaps afraid that they would not be welcomed into a Barnsley sports club with open arms, the lads have a haven and hoops to shoot at the Wombwell-based club who have a junior section for under 11s, 13s, 15s and 16s.
Beaumont, 74, says their willingness to play has been mutually beneficial. "The lads might have struggled with a few things and phrases at first but they quickly absorbed the local culture," said Beaumont, a former teacher.
"They have a background in the sport from their cultures and that means that they tend to be always up for it, more so than the English players.
"We have been very pleased to welcome these new players from overseas as we are pleased to welcome locally-born youngsters too.
"In recent years they have represented Barnsley very well and have been a credit to us and themselves."
Read the full feature in Friday's Chronicle.
