On The Spot with the Harlem Globetrotters: Torch and Speedy reveal all

LiveScore’s Cian Cheesbrough speaks exclusively to Harlem Globetrotters stars Cherelle ‘Torch’ George and Darnell ‘Speedy’ Artis as the world-famous basketball team prepare to exhibit their skills at shows across the UK this month.

Great to meet you both. How long have you been with the Harlem Globetrotters and how did your introduction to the team come about?

Torch: I’ve been with the team for six years. It’s gone by so fast. I know Speedy will agree that it feels like I was just a rookie last year. It goes by so fast because you’re having so much fun seeing the world!

I got my opportunity to audition for the team just by coaching in Miami. What I didn’t realise is that there was a Globetrotter refereeing my game. 

In between games I would just go on to the court and dribble and shoot, and he noticed me.

He approached me and asked if I’d ever thought about being a female Globetrotter and I said ‘no, not really!’ He said ‘I really think you have what it takes’. 

They flew me to Atlanta to audition and it was just playing basketball. Nothing more. People always ask me what a Globetrotter audition is like and it’s just playing. You learn all the tricks and stuff later.

Speedy: This is my seventh year. As Torch said, it goes by so fast. Being away from home makes it feels like it’s going faster. 

It’s great just to have fun, make an impact and be able to do stuff that most people have to pay to do. We were just at Big Ben and Buckingham Palace yesterday, something people save up their whole lives to do. 

As a kid, I went to see the Globetrotters every single year. Now being one myself, I am creating my own moments. 

Torch, you became only the 16th female Globetrotter in the team in its 98-year history. What sort of pressure comes with that?

Torch: As a female player, my experience has probably been very different to other Globetrotters. 

There’s been thousands of males, but there are only now about 21 past female players. That’s pressure in itself. There is so much expectation to follow the legends before me.

We want to keep it going. It’s only myself and TNT [Lister] who have been in the team for more than three years as a female.

TNT was the first in about 20 years. We can’t have another 20 years go by. So we want people to know they need to continue having female players in the Globetrotters.

Speedy: It’s a different dynamic having women on our team but they add so much. 

A lot of young boys grow up not respecting women’s basketball, so it’s good to see our world is changing in that aspect. You can see how dynamic our women team-mates are. 

They are going round the world inspiring other women. I can only imagine the pressure they feel. They have 14,000 eyes on them and they get the biggest ovation every night, and it really sets the tone!

If us males feel pressure to carry on a legacy, then think how they must feel.

Torch: It says a lot when young boys say, ‘Dad, I want Torch on my jersey!’ It means so much when I see that. I get the respect that I think I deserve.

I can do a lot of things that men can’t do. I put in the same groundwork in as they did, so the respect is mutual.

Torch, you became the first female Globetrotter to claim a Guinness World Record in 2018 for the most basketball under the leg tumbles in one minute with 32. How did that feel to get such an accolade?

Torch: It felt great. To be able to win a world record and make history. 

What made it so special is that I took a move that I learned in the hood in Pennsylvania. It was something I used to see on the street all the time. 

I’ve been doing that move for so long so when I got the opportunity to do that I was, of course, nervous. 

I knew I had to get 30 and leading up to the day, I couldn’t get it. There was something about those lights at the time and I managed to do it. 

It was special because I took something I learnt at the bottom and took it to the bright lights and made history. That’s something that will live forever.

We see your flashy skills and immense talent when you are out on the court. How much hard work actually goes into being able to produce that?

Speedy: When I was a kid, I just loved the game so much. I had a basketball when I was a one-year-old, I’m 28 now and I still haven’t put it down!

I had to figure out my own little niches to elevate myself. Being a smaller guard, you just can’t miss shots. So I just used to shoot so many shots every day.

That work has translated into what I do today. When you become a Globetrotter, it’s just so different.

I’m in the Magic Circle and I’m a showman, not just a player. It’s a whole different animal. But so many different layers of work has gone into getting where I am.

Torch: If I had to be honest, I put the real hard work in when I was younger in order to get to this point. I don’t have to work as hard now. 

But I’ve always loved playing basketball so when you have a passion for something, it never feels like hard work. 

There’s greatness around you and I have that competitive edge, so you always want to be the best at what you do. 

If I wasn’t in the Globetrotters, I’d be playing basketball anyway so it doesn’t really feel like work to us.

What can fans expect when they attend your UK shows this month?

Speedy: It is a very different basketball game. Our game is for people who are two years old all the way to 70 years old.

You’re going to get a chance to interact with basketball players in a way you can’t do anywhere else.

Torch: There’s just nothing like a Globetrotter game. There are no other sports teams where you get the same kind of interaction with the players. 

Speedy: We’ll get them dancing, we’ll get them having fun, we might even throw a bucket of water on them! We’ll get their minds off homework or any trouble they might be having at home.

You’ll be able to see some of the greatest dunkers in the world, the greatest shooters, the greatest passers. And you’ll get an autograph at the end of the game, guaranteed!

It’s a night you don’t want to miss. You can watch it on YouTube or on TV, but there’s really nothing like watching it in person. 

It will be our first UK shows since before the coronavirus pandemic hit, so the atmosphere will be crazy. These people have been waiting. I love playing in the UK.

Visit the Harlem Globetrotters' website to buy tickets to one of their 10 shows across the UK this month.