The Surrey Scorchers have folded.

Unless you follow UK professional basketball, you probably don’t realise that this is absolutely a higher education story. The Scorchers were largely supported by the University of Surrey – the university owns Surrey Sports Park, where home games were played.

In a statement, the club and the university noted that:

Economic headwinds across the UK higher education sector, played a part in the University of Surrey, owners of Surrey Sports Park, making proactive decisions in order to restore long term sustainability to their finances.

This uncertainty had been compounded by changes to the league itself (basically, the old British Basketball League was funded by controversial US investment firm 777, who were unable to meet expected payments – the British Basketball Federation de-designated the league owners and a new system is under development for the 2024-25 season). Surrey were simply unable to survive through off season uncertainty without the support of the university, and the university support was impossible given the current circumstances.

Though the top of the Surrey Scorchers was the professional team, like every professional basketball team it ran an academy (based at Merrist Wood College) and numerous other teams at every other level of the sport. It supported schools and community outreach programmes. The university was a prominent partner – providing facilities, sports coaching, and treatments, and an elite sports programmes that enabled athletes to fit higher education study around their career.

There is not a lot of money in UK basketball – it is professional in the sense that it does pay professional sportspeople, but salaries are nothing like you would expect in professional football. The idea of a professional league is to provide a career structure for young British players with a talent for basketball. The top tier in the UK had ten teams last season, each with a university partner and an academy programme.

Universities are a key component in support for many sports, and sports pathways in the UK. In terms of local community outreach these programmes are hugely important an effective way to reach young people who may not have otherwise consider higher education (or, indeed, sports). A local team generates community pride, and is a very visible example of the way universities invest in the local area.

There will still be basketball in Guildford. A new team, the Surrey ’89ers, has been founded by the former general manager of the Scorchers. It will play at the university sports park, but will have no other link to the university.

UK basketball news site Hoopsfix notes that university led teams have failed in the past – the Worcester Wolves (University of Worcester), Leeds Force (Leeds Beckett), Durham Wildcats (Durham) have all closed their doors in the last decade. It suggests:

Differing priorities, a lack of understanding of elite sport, and changes in leadership are all contributing factors to the university model not having proven to be successful in the UK

Basketball happens to be my sport, but we could tell similar stories about netball and other programmes. If university funding is precarious, university outreach and community programmes are precarious too.