FORMER Great Britain basketball captain Julie Page is hoping to encourage more girls and women in Bury to take up the sport after joining the town's sports development team.

Page is leading a series of Sport For All taster sessions at Phillips High School in Whitefield in partnership with National Basketball League side Lancashire Spinners, who play their home games at Castle Leisure Centre.

“I am positive there are lots of talented young girls out there just waiting – like I was – to be discovered," said the 33-year-old, who took up the sport aged 15 after dropping into a Sport For All centre at Reddish Vale High School with her mum.

"On the other hand, I'm sure there are some basketball-enthused women who just want to play for fun – like I do now – and that want a league to join, or a have a drop in session to enjoy.”

Page's rise from grassroots basketball to the upper echelons of the sport was a rapid one. story sees her progression from grass roots to top flight basketball.

She was recruited by the Stockport Lapwings coach to join junior sessions and continued to play basketball while studying at Loughborough University and for Nottingham Wildcats in the Women's English Basketball Division One.

The Stockport-born player spent a gap year at Eastern Washington University in NCAA Division One before going on to play in some of the top leagues in Europe – in France, Italy, Poland and Germany.

International honours followed as she spent her summers playing for Great Britain. Page was named British basketball player of the year – given to the most outstanding male or female player on national duty – and the 2011 Olympic athlete of the year.

She then went on to captain Team GB at the London Olympics and now hopes to unearth and mould the British stars of the future in taster sessions at the Bury Sport for All centre at Phillips High School.

They are held every Saturday from 1.30pm to 2.20pm for girls aged 11 to 16, and every Thursday from 7.30pm to 8.20pm for over 16s. The first session is free then subsequent sessions are £3 a week.

For more details, email info@sportforallcentres.co.uk or visit the website at www.sportforallcentres.co.uk.