Eagles ENBL doc 'Soaring into History' is everything you want it to be

We had an early look at Soaring into History: From Newcastle to a European Final Four. This is what we thought about it.

The documentary, created by Super League Basketball, follows the Newcastle Eagles on their journey to the European North Basketball League (ENBL) Final Four.

With input from Head Coach Marc Steutel, captain and Eagles stalwart Darius Defoe, and 2024/25 leading scorer ‘Money’ Mike Okauru, Soaring into History: From Newcastle to European Final Four offers a fly on the wall perspective as the underdog British team navigate their way through a tough European competition.

With a run time just shy of 20 minutes, the doc brilliantly showcases the magnitude of the moment for the club and the opportunity it presented to last year’s Eagles squad.

After being bounced out the competition the previous year by eventual winners, Danish side Bakken Bears, viewers are taken through the Eagles arc of redemption.

The heartbreak of the previous campaign was clearly a real catalyst and point of focus of Steutel and his squad. Fans will be gifted a rare glimpse into the passionate pre-game speeches, mic’d-up moments between players discussing in-game adjustments, and a sense that the players were not only representing themselves, but British basketball as a whole.

What the documentary also achieves is telling the wider story of Newcastle’s contributions to British basketball. Managing Director, Paul Blake, gives his insight into the two decades of domination which saw the Eagles collect 27 trophies, including three sweeps of all available trophies.

These stories aren’t told enough in my opinion. New fans simply aren’t reminded of the rich history the many of our clubs have. Soaring into History will make not only Eagles fans, but British basketball fans walk that little bit taller and puff their chests out that little bit more.

British basketball has been calling out for content like this for years. The human stories of the people that pull on these jerseys. Stopping to document these milestones in our collective basketball history. Players like Josh Ward-Hibbert getting heaped with the praise he rightly deserves.

We urge everyone to give this a watch. Whether you’re an Eagles fan or not.

The documentary will be available on DAZN and YouTube on 14th July. For more information, visit the SLB website.