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History of basketball
If you want to know where the beautiful game originated, click here to read an overview of the game's origins.
Club history
Highlights of one third of a century of Aztecs basketball
1972 Bracknell Aztecs Basketball Club formed by members of Bracknell based Ranelagh School. Team enters Wessex League.
1979 Aztecs win first major trophy, the top Cup competition for sides in the Wessex Area - the Karl Taylor Shield.
1980/1 Team retains Karl Taylor Shield, making it 3 consecutive wins in 1981.
1982 Aztecs claim first League title, winning Wessex Men’s Division 1.
1984 Team enters Surrey League and does the ‘double’, winning both the Wessex and Surrey Division 1 titles.
1985 The club expands for the first time, adding a men’s second team largely from players from regular sponsors 3M. Men’s 1sts win Wessex Division 1 for the 3rd time in four years.
1986 Further expansion, this time Garth Hill School, Bracknell providing the core of the club’s first Ladies team.
1988 With basketball on the up, the club adds two more teams, a third men’s team and a second ladies side. The possibility of a 6th team in total is discussed.
1990 A club ‘double’ as the Men’s 1sts win Wessex League Division 1 and the Ladies win the Ladies Plate competition. The club moves from using Charters School in Ascot to its’ present home, Wellington College.
1992 Now the largest club in the Wessex Area, with around 60 playing members. The Men’s 2nd team wins their first trophy - the Karl Taylor Plate, beating Princess Marina College in a closely fought final. With an average age of approaching 40, half of the original team re-form as “Aztecs Juniors” In Division 2!
1993 A third Karl Taylor Shield triumph for the Men’s 1sts, beating Thames Valley College in the final. The 2nds win Wessex Division 2 for the first time and with it promotion to Division 1.
1994 The Men’s 2nds, now under the nickname “Lemmings” achieve an odd ‘double’. Relegated after their first division one season, they bounce back to beat Slough 81-55 to win the Karl Taylor Plate. During the summer, the 1st team is disbanded due to having too few players.
1995 For the fourth straight season, the Lemmings win a trophy - Wessex Division 2 this time, gaining promotion and putting an Aztecs team back in the top flight after a years absence. With the addition of a new Division 3 team named the “Phoenix”, the club boasts 7 teams and over 70 members registered to play.
1997 After a trophy-less year in 1996, the club does a Plate ‘double’, with the veterans, now known as “Aztecs Experience” winning the men’s Plate. The Ladies repeat the feat in their competition, overcoming Hilton Nationals.
1999 A trophy to celebrate as the Experience return to the the Plate final and a 3-point shot with
just 12 seconds left gives them victory 73-72 over Aldershot 27’s .
2000-1 No trophies to celebrate the Millenium with, but the continued intra-club rivalry sees the Experience continue their dominance over the Phoenix, their winning sequence in these matches now 9 games.
2002 Aztec Ladies win the Wessex Ladies Plate competition.
2004 Following another successful Summer League, which expanded to 5 teams, the club enters a 4th mens team into the Wessex League.
2005 The club achieves a double success, with Aztec Cobras narrowly winning the Wessex Open Division 2 championship - a whisker ahead of Aztec Lemmings, who finish as runners up.
2006 The club adopts another ladies team - The Rage, who were dropped at short notice by the Heat franchise. The Rage prove a point by winning the Ladies Division and reaching the Ladies Plate final.
2007 A very successful year - Aztec Jaguars win Wessex Division 1 title, the first time the club has been at the top for nearly 20 years. The Lemmings win promotion to Div 1, the Cobras finish 3rd in Div 3, and the Rage and the Jaguars win their respective Cup Finals - making a very satisfying double for the Jags, and Cup Double for the Club at Finals Day.
2008 The most successful in the Club's history as we win 5 of the 7 competitions we enter. The Jaguars repeat last season's double, the Lemmings stay in Division 1 by the narrowest of margins, the Cobras win the Club's first Division 3 title, and the Experience just keep on going. On the ladies side, the Rage win a double of their own as they add the Ladies Plate to their first division title, and the Belles achieve their highest finish in any active player's memory.
2009 Our men's teams struggle to live up to last season's glories, but the ladies do the Club proud, winning the full double - the Ladies First Division, and the Ladies Cup.
2010 Once again the Ladies steal the limelight with a terrific late run to win the First Division, and also finish as runners up in the Ladies Cup.
2011 Jaguars win the Karl Taylor Plate.
2012 Storm win Ladies First Division Play-offs.
2013 Jaguars win Open Second Division, Play-offs and were runners up in the Surrey Cup. Storm win Ladies First Division.
2015 Lemmings win Play-offs final and promotion from Open Third Division.
The Club
1972 Bracknell Aztecs Basketball Club formed by members of Bracknell based Ranelagh School. Team enters Wessex League.
Basketball in Bracknell, Crowthorne, Wokingham, Camberley, Sandhurst, south Reading, Woodley, Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, for men and women.