Richmond upon Thames College basketball academy head coach Jack Majewski believes this weekend’s international tournament at Kingston College is filling a void in the English game.

National U18 teams from France, Croatia, Sweden and Poland - plus a Richmond College select team - will battle it out for this year’s Future Stars title.

It is the third competition of its type Majewski has organised since the inaugural tournament in 2008 and is set to be extended with a similar event in Poland next weekend.

European basketball as got closer - in quality - to the American NBA in recent years, yet budget cuts across the sport have seen opportunities for youngsters to compete abroad dry-up.

And Majewski admits it is no surprise to him that his Future Stars project - which is accompanied by an international coaching conference - has taken off.

“We have put a huge amount of effort into this over the last few years,” he said.

“With our growing reputation as a showcase for talent, teams are readily accepting invitations so it is no surprise we have grown from that point of view.

“European basketball is equal if not higher than that in American and it is important English players have first hand contact with that in terms of their development.

“There is a very big void to fill. English clubs don’t compete in Europe and English junior players don’t travel as much as they need to because of finances.

“We can’t fill that void completely, but you have to start somewhere.”

England play Croatia and France face Richmond College in two of the more eye-catching group stage clashes at Kingston Arena on Friday night, with the semi-finals and finals held on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

And Majewski reckons it is a mouth-watering prospect.

“I could barely find a place for myself last year and we are expecting similar levels for the evening games this time around,” he added.

“Many of the players who take part go on to play professionally at some stage in their careers, so the quality is high.”

The event will also mark the official start of Richmond College becoming a part of the Get Set Network, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Education Programme.