Local Basketball Notes (week ending 6th October 2019)

The new basketball season in Clare continued in competition mode last weekend with the first league for our U16 Girls in Gurteen Hall on Sunday followed by the under 12 boys on Sunday.

Clare Area Basketball Board (CABB) will then roll out an event a month per age group for the following teams:

· U 12 Girls – Panthers (Doora-Barefield) , Cascaders (Ennistymon), Bluestars (Cooraclare), KBC (Kilrush) & Comets (Ennis)

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· U 12 Boys – Panthers (Doora-Barefield) , Cascaders (Ennistymon), Bluestars (Cooraclare), KBC (Kilrush), Abbey Lakers (Quin) & Comets (Ennis)

· U 14 Girls – Panthers (Doora-Barefield) , Cascaders (Ennistymon), Bluestars (Cooraclare), KBC (Kilrush), Abbey Lakers (Quin) & Comets (Ennis)

· U 14 Boys – Panthers (Doora-Barefield) , Cascaders (Ennistymon), Bluestars (Cooraclare), KBC (Kilrush), Jets (Shannon), Abbey Lakers (Quin) & Comets (Ennis)

· U 16 Girls – Panthers (Doora-Barefield) , Cascaders (Ennistymon), Bluestars (Cooraclare), KBC (Kilrush), Jets (Shannon), Abbey Lakers (Quin) & Comets (Ennis)

· U 16 Boys – Panthers (Doora-Barefield) , Cascaders (Ennistymon), Bluestars (Cooraclare), KBC (Kilrush), Jets (Shannon) & Comets (Ennis)

These junior teams will also compete in a Clare Cup, All Ireland Club Championship, Inter-regional event as County teams and many friendlies in between so a busy season (Sept – March) ahead for all which will be guaranteed to be exciting as the standard of basketball has improved year on year – watch this space for regular updates!!

Clare Area Basketball Board (CABB) are also very proud of our U14 Girls & Boys that have been chosen from over 650 players nationally for the Basketball Ireland Under 14 Regional Academies – the direct pathway to national & international teams…great achievement for players, coaches and parents – and direct impact of the level of the sport improving in the county.

Clare Area Board & Clare teams are very excited for the addition of the older age groups – which had been sought for a long time now – it was important these age groups were added in order for the kids playing basketball in Clare to know they have a ‘path’ to college /senior level in their own County.

These teams will be playing outside the county (most likely in Limerick or Kerry) to fulfil a league / cup commitments.

· U 18 Girls – Panthers (Doora-Barefield) & KBC (Kilrush)

· U 18 Boys –Cascaders (Ennistymon) & Comets (Ennis)

· Senior Ladies – Panthers (Doora-Barefield) , Cascaders (Ennistymon), KBC (Kilrush) & Phoenix(Shannon)

· Senior Mens – Panthers (Doora-Barefield)

CABB will be adding fixtures and results, news to a new Facebook page & website very soon…check social media for more!!

CABB are very proud of the progress that has been made and this year is especially proud of the new Academy and the senior teams being added.

One Clare team has been chosen to represent the county in a new development imitative by Basketball Ireland – JR NBA programme, which will roll out the JR NBA training programme to three schools in conjunction with the chosen club . Kilrush Basketball Club will be teaming up with St Senans National (Kilrush), Gaelscoil Uí Choimín (Kilrush) & Scoil Réalt na Mara (Kilkee), to train and then it culminates with a Jr. NBA festival of basketball, which will be held at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght in December.

BASKETBALL IS BACK IN FULL SWING IN Clare but all clubs need help to maintain all this work going forward.

But in order to keep all this basketball going we need some help from parents – all welcome and training is provided for all that are keen to join us in making the future of basketball great again…

At club level we need the following:

Team Managers – which sounds fancy but it’s a working role!! Collecting monies for blitzes, training, sending out texts & ensuring full teams for competitions and maybe doing the score table …

Table Officials – Over 16 years of age and have the free training course done prior to doing this role – sitting at the score table for a match and documenting the scores/fouls, etc. Role suits an adult that sits and watches the match anyway – all training provided!! Chat to your club.

Team Coaches – Most clubs will provide training for any parents that would like to get involved in training and there are different levels required for different age groups…again, chat to any existing Coach and they will be happy to advise you on this…

Fund Raisers – every club and Area Board need these people most – within money we cannot continue – gate collectors, bag packers, bucket shakers, bake sale experts – all welcome.

Without the parents helping and volunteering we cannot continue this very busy work of keeping the children of Clare playing a very healthy, indoor, winter sport with County, regional & national competitions available to them.

Contact any club coach or official or Paul McGibney Clare Area Basketball Board PRO at [email protected]

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Clare basketball joins forces with Junior NBA…

The second annual Jr. NBA draft was officially held at the National Basketball Arena on Saturday Sept. 28th 2019 and was followed by the 2019 Basketball Ireland Underage International Caps ceremony.

The draft marked the beginning of the second Jr. NBA Basketball Ireland League, which will run from October to December 2019, culminating in a festival of basketball at the National Arena on December 10th, 2019, where an NBA Ambassador will be in attendance.

The Jr. NBA Basketball Ireland league features 14 Irish clubs – one of which is Kilrush Basketball Club – who have partnered with local primary schools in their area to create the 30 teams. The three schools that have partnered are 1.St. Senan’s National School, Kilrush 2. Scoil Realt Na Mara, Kilkee & 3. Gaelscoil Ui Choimin, Kilrush

The draft saw the 30 teams from around the country matched with an NBA team as well as receiving corresponding NBA team-branded uniforms for their games.

Basketball Ireland are the driving force behind this initiative and sponsored by De-Care Dental – with over 2,000 players last year with an amazing 1,054 which had never played basketball before – it’s all about FUN and development of the Sport.

Head of Development at Basketball Ireland, Ciaran O’Sullivan stated: “We’re really excited to build on the success of last year’s Jr NBA league. 95% of the children surveyed last year wanted to continue basketball and we are hoping this year’s Jr NBA will be just as successful.”

The Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball program for boys and girls, teaches the fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents.

Leveraging the excitement of the NBA, the league will also promote the Jr. NBA values of teamwork, respect, determination, and community through the upcoming Jr. NBA draft, competitive league play, finals events and Jr. NBA youth clinics.

The draft was followed by the International underage caps ceremony, which also saw the Special Olympics basketball team honoured at the event.

Caps were awarded to players from Under 16, Under 17, Under 18, Under 18 3×3 and Under 20 men’s and women’s teams today and included Clare person, Kilrush Community School student and Ex Bluestar star Sabhbh Edwards Murphy who this year represented Ireland u17 squad and secured a scholarship in Akron, Ohio in 2020.

Sabhbh took time out from her busy day to share a photo and some encouraging words for our Clare players…

For any information please contact Clare Area Basketball Board PRO on [email protected]

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Clare Basketball Round up – as of 7/10/2019

The second weekend of blitzes in Clare Area Basketball Boards (CABB) League very busy schedule got under way on Saturday 5th October 2019, with two age groups out competing…the Boys U12 & the U16 Girls Leagues.

The U12 Boys Blitz took place in Kildysart Community School early on Saturday morning with Kilrush BC & Comets starting off procedures – 6 teams from KBC (Kilrush), Comets (Ennis), Panthers (Doora-Barefield), Bluestars (Cooraclare) , Lakers (Quin)& Cascaders (Ennistymon) – all played great standard of basketball and all coaches, refs & parents were very impressed with the high standard shown – KBC, Blusestars & Comets all recorded wins with Bluestars and KBC tied at the top of the league table on six points each – only points difference separating them at this very early stage…

This weekend also saw some Clare Teams attend a development League in Limerick with our neighbours in North Munster Area Basketball Board – which is in place to ensure young teams at U11 & U13 age groups can get play time in a game situation but the emphasis being on development & fun and not all about the win…

The next blitz up on Saturday was the turn of the U16 Girls in Gurteen Hall – which this year promises to be a very competitive league indeed with eight teams competing for the top honours – Comets (Ennis), Panthers (Doora-Barefield), Bluestars (Cooraclare) , Lakers (Quin)& Cascaders (Ennistymon) Jets (Shannon) & 2 Teams from KBC (Kilrush).

With 2020 being the Year of Women in Sport it’s a great sign to see so many young women still actively involved in sport – ‘if she can’t see it, she can’t be it’.

These young women put on a fine display of basketball but also of sportsmanship and really create an atmosphere of good sport while retaining high level of competitiveness.

CABB League continues next week with the turn of the U16 Boys which will take place in Ennistymon Hall – all are free to visit and support.

All Clare basketball teams are also looking for any help that parents / people can offer and if you are keen to get involved please contact CABB PRO [email protected] or any member of your local teams.