A basketball coach “teared up” after Love Island presenter Maya Jama bought his club a brand new minibus that will help to transport children to games across the country.
David Senart, who lives in Bristol and is originally from Tennessee, USA, is chairman and head coach for Bristol Storm, which partakes in National Basketball League matches and offers basketball coaching for children and adults.
The club, which is not government-funded and relies on children’s parents to transport them to games, set up a fundraiser to raise money for a second-hand minibus that would enable members to travel to matches together.
Though the fundraiser raised enough for the club to purchase a used minibus, the vehicle failed its MOT in April, which ceased the club’s transportation means.
TV presenter Maya Jama, who is from Bristol and whose younger brother attends the club, learnt of the club’s financial struggle and offered to purchase a new Peugeot minibus, which Mr Senart, who manages the club on a voluntary basis, said brought him to tears.
Mr Senart, 44, who currently coaches the under 16s team, told the PA news agency: “I cried. I sat here and teared up, because we would never be able to be in a position to buy a bus like that.
“I got really emotional.
“The kindness and generosity that she has shown in that, I’ve got no words to say how grateful we are for her compassion for us.”
Mr Senart received the minibus, which is printed with the Bristol Storm branding, on August 16 and hopes to use the bus for more extra-curricular activities that will build lasting memories for his team.
He said: “By having a minibus, especially new and it’s going to last us for years, we can do all these extra things to provide these experiences for these kids that we just couldn’t do otherwise because we wouldn’t be able to get there.
“These memories now will be impactful for the rest of your life.”
He also said the new minibus will have a “huge impact” on the club and help to ease “pressure” on parents who previously drove children to games, aiding those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Mr Senart explained: “It just takes so much pressure off parents, because a lot of parents don’t drive.
“We’re an inner city club. We have kids with different various backgrounds, financial backgrounds, and it just makes such a huge impact.”
There's no way I could ever express in words enough gratitude for what she's done— David Senart
The head coach spoke of the club’s previous “struggle” with transportation, particularly as Bristol Storm does not receive government funding.
He said: “Our games have a huge radius in the South West, so it’s a struggle. It was important to me to make (travelling) easier.
“We don’t get any funding from the government. Basketball England doesn’t have any money for clubs. We don’t have any sponsorships.
“We struggled to get to games because we rely on parents to drive kids… we travel from Cornwall to London for games and that’s not for anything extra.”
As a result of the purchase, Mr Senart said he has built a close rapport with Jama considering her part of the “Storm family” and expressed that there are “no words” to show his gratitude.
He said: “There’s no way I could ever express in words enough gratitude for what she’s done.
“I told her ‘you’ll be Storm family forever now’.”
