Many of basketball’s greats are born on the streets, streetball itself is the heart of basketball. It is known as a place where you learn who you really are as a player. Although originating in the USA, over the years the culture of basketball has spread internationally and has become a huge sport in the UK. However, the first official British basketball league (BBL) wasn’t founded until 1987. Before this, players have had to find a way to express their talent elsewhere.
Street basketball has always been hugely popular throughout the UK, and its most raw, talented basketball players can be commonly found in more deprived areas, such as the rougher parts of Manchester. These street ballers form respectable communities and produce some of the most talented ballers the UK has seen.
Streetball culture in Manchester has always been influenced by diversity. Young athletes from diverse immigrant backgrounds such as, African, South Asian, Caribbean, and Eastern European all bring their unique street smarts, tenacity, and styles to the court. The combination of these nations produces a distinctive style of basketball in the UK that is unpredictable, athletic, and fast-paced.
Ruben Forde, a Lithuanian born basketball player has originated from these streets of Manchester and has grown up with the game. Basketball is his one guaranteed love, and is all he knows. Forde has grown up in a place called Moss side, which has a reputation for being one of the more crime-ridden areas in Manchester.
Moss Side is often seen as a place of contrast, still hindered by crime, but now also increasingly recognized for its sense of community and culture. For someone like Ruben, growing up there means carrying both the scars and strength of the area.
Forde said: “It’s the same across most of the rougher areas in Manchester. In places like Moss Side and Fallowfield, basketball isn’t just seen as a sport, for me and for others like me it’s been my culture and a coping mechanism for when I have been struggling.
Ruben began his playing career on the streets, but he says that his relationship with basketball started through his relationship with God. He also states that: “basketball wasn’t just a sport for him, it was a calling”.
For many athletes such as Ruben, religion provides a strong moral and emotional foundation. It helps shape their identity beyond their sport and gives them a greater sense of purpose. Faith becomes a framework to understand victory, defeat, pain, and growth
Raised in a deeply religious family, his relationship with God was established from the very beginning. Ruben said: “My connection with God started the moment I was born, everything I am today is because of him. I truly believe he’s guiding me, step by step.”
This connection is what drives Ruben, and many others forward. Rubens earlier life didnt contain luxuries that other children may take for granted, growing up in a poorer household he did not have access to much technology or activities, for Forde, his main focuses were on family, God, and playing basketball on the street.
“I didn’t have the distractions other kids had. No phone, no ps4. I had my family, a basketball, and my belief. Even now when I step onto the court, it’s a blessing. I never take it for granted. Every shot I take, it’s God moving through me. This isn’t just about me making it pro. It’s about fulfilling the purpose he gave me.
I’ve just been taught that way, I can’t really explain it. Some people think I take my relationship with God too seriously, or that its cringey, but it’s just all I’ve known growing up. My family are extremely religious and that became stronger when they emigrated to England, they believed it was God that gave us this opportunity. It has been the same as I have been getting older, God has just been in my routine, church on Sundays. Prayers before meals. Lessons of perseverance, humility, and resilience were constantly taught and repeated around the dinner table to me and my siblings. It made us who we are today”, said Forde.
The constant street ball and his relationship with God keeping him resilient and hard-working has shaped Forde into a rather exceptional young player. At the age of 20, Forde has just recently joined his university team, and because of his talent he has been thrown straight into the first team, as a regular starter.
But how did Ruben make the leap from streetball to being a part of a team on the actual courts? Ruben has always been incredibly athletic, and thanks to his repetitive routine of streetball, he has naturally developed an athlete’s frame and has always had quickness and talent. Because of this, he developed a strong talent for basketball before he even played his first game for a grassroots team.
“I’d managed to surprise a lot of teams in my area for how good I was at a younger age. I’ve always been fairly tall but somewhere along the way I just didn’t stop growing, but before that I just had this knack for anything athletic really. I was shocking all the old heads on the court by jumping over kids twice my size, I was able to dunk from like age thirteen.”
It was this ability that pushed Ruben to join a grassroots level basketball side. However, he struggled to find a team at first in the Manchester area. Basketball at the grassroots level in the UK is full of heart, but it’s also fighting an uphill battle.
Unlike football, which receives massive funding, media attention, and institutional support, basketball often operates in the shadows. Yet despite the lack of resources, it remains one of the most played sports among young people.
But when Ruben was younger, the scene was a little bit different. The accessibility wasn’t really there at the time. Particularly in Black and minority ethnic communities, basketball wasn’t receiving a lot of funding back then.
Forde said, “It was disappointing when I was younger, because I felt as if my hard work and drive wasn’t really paying off, and for a young kid, it really messes with you. During my childhood we struggled financially, so throughout that time I gave everything I had to Basketball, and all I wanted to do was repay my family and God who has strived for me to become a better individual and had helped with my basketball talent.”
Eventually though, Ruben got recommended to a grassroots level team by one of the older ballers on his local street court. This sense of community is why street basketball can be so special. What it lacks in support, it makes up for in grit, community spirit, and raw talent. Whether it’s a converted playground in Moss Side or a small sports hall in Leeds, the love for the game burns bright, and players like Ruben Forde are living proof of what that scene can produce.
“I felt as if it was a blessing. I got so lucky in the fact that I just happened to have been playing on that court at the right time in the right place, and I will forever be grateful to that man as it felt like at the time that opportunity was just never going to come, you know?, said Forde.
For the rest of his teenage years, Ruben was proving himself at grassroots level and was starting to attract attention from various youth academy programs as well as youth/summer programmes abroad. Ruben had a choice to make; does he continue in England? Or does he venture to the states away from his family who had worked so hard for his opportunity.
Before his decision could be made, the global Covid-19 pandemic turned his life upside down. Lockdown was extremely difficult for the young basketball player. He had gone from playing every minute after school outside on the street playing basketball, to being stuck inside for the best part of 4 months.
Ruben said, “Covid was so hard man, it really was. I had no hoop in my garden, and we weren’t allowed to go play on the streets either, I know 4 months isn’t that long of a time in the grand scheme of things, but it left me in a dark spot.
I turned to God in that time, and I was able to believe that things were going to get better. I decided that after covid was over I was going to take a gap year to get back into playing and then go to university so that I can get a better education as well as keep trying for my dream in basketball.”
In September 2024, Ruben Forde moved to Leeds to study at Leeds Beckett Univeristy, a university very well known for its sporting achievements and history. It was during this time that he signed up for a trial for the men’s beckett basketball team.
During try outs, everyone was immediately blown away by how good he was, and straight away Ruben was offered a place in the first team, which he has cemented himself in the starting 5 ever since.
Since then, Forde has been the team’s leading points scorer as well as standing out in big games with his dribbling ability, his ability to dunk and his natural athleticism. His teammates and coaches have regularly told him that he has what it takes to make it.
“I’ve just always had this belief in me, this certainty that I’m going to make it in England. I can’t explain it, but I’ve always just had that feeling in the back of my mind that one day I will be playing in the BBL”.
In May 2025, there was a Varsity sports day that is played annually towards the back end of the University year, and the event consists of both Leeds university team’s, being Leeds Beckett and University of Leeds going head-to-head across every sport played at the Uni’s.
It is widely known as the biggest sporting spectacle at University level across Leeds, and students flock to the event every year to cheer on their respective Universities. It is as big as it gets for university student athletes.
The student athletes don’t just participate for bragging rights; they play for pride. At certain sports, there are even scouts that go and watch to see if there are any talented athletes that have the potential.
It is a fierce contest and a historic rivalry that has gone back generations. In the previous year, Beckett had triumphed in the basketball and took home the trophy, so this year the University of Leeds were out for revenge.
However, this year Leeds Beckett first team had something they didn’t last time, a new athlete and a new card up their sleeve, Ruben Forde. Forde said, “The expectation on me going into Varsity was great, I lap up those sorts of things, I was so pumped for my varsity debut, everything just felt right for me at the time”.
Unfortunately, Beckett had some vital injuries going into their game. Knocks to their captain and starting point guard meant that they were at a disadvantage going into the game. Ruben had the game of his life, however the University of Leeds won by just one point, taking home the trophy and everything that comes with it.
“It was a hard one to take,” said Forde. I really wanted to mark my first year off with that varsity win, but things just didn’t fall into place on the day. I felt bad for those third years who couldn’t end their time at Uni with a good result, but we will be back next year, and we will put things right”.
Things weren’t all gloomy after Varsity. Ruben was informed shortly after by one of his coaches that there was an offer in place from The Newcastle Eagles, a team in the BBL, for Reuben when he finishes University.
Finally, Forde said: “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Honestly, I was so happy when I heard they were interested. It just felt as though that belief that I always had in me, the one fueled by God, was about to come true. The only downside is that I’d have to move to Newcastle”!
From the street courts of Moss Side to the newfound university competitions, he’s carried the same belief that he was made for more. With God as his guide, the game in his blood, and a professional future within reach, Ruben is catching up to his dream. And as he looks ahead, one thing is certain, he’s only just getting started.
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