Basketball
Local basketball teams are relishing long-awaited return
By Daire Walsh
DUBLIN Lions head coach Erin Bracken has welcomed news of an official start date for the return of Ireland’s domestic basketball season.
In a press release issued last week, it was confirmed the Men’s National League will return on September 18 with the Women’s National League following two weeks later. Bracken – who is heavily involved in Basketball Ireland’s ‘Bounce Back Challenge’ initiative, aimed at getting 12-17 year olds back into the sport – will be hoping to guide the Clondalkin club to promotion from Division One following their relegation at the end of the 2019/20 Super League season.
“It’s something for us to look forward to and it’s so long since we’ve had some competitive basketball,” she told The Echo.
“I think it’s probably earlier than what we expected. We would have been expecting it to be October, considering the summer league is running through and whoever makes the final of that play on September 4,” Bracken said.
“It only gives two weeks then before the actual national leagues start, but there’s a lot of basketball planned throughout August and the fact that we’re starting in September is great.”
Although Bracken and her fellow coaches would like to have been back on the court by now, current restrictions prevent them from doing so.
The most they can do at the moment is outdoor training in pods of 15 and individual indoor work-outs, which Éanna’s Darren McGovern admitted is proving to be quite a challenge.
“You’re playing with men who are athletes, who have been playing on the wooden floors for the last 15 to 20 years and then changing out to a concrete ground.
“I haven’t done too much work with the lads on that, other than just trying to build-up some baseline stuff,” the coach of the Ballyroan outfit explained.
“Trying to build their strength. Indoors, you’re only allowed indoor individual training at the minute. All we’re doing is getting the guys in individually, getting them up in the evenings to try and just ease themselves back in. It’s the only thing you can do.”
The reason for these COVID-related restrictions is the fact that club basketball players aren’t currently classed as elite athletes by Sport Ireland. It is a different scenario for the international basketball teams, who have returned to training in the past few weeks.
Griffith College Templeogue point guard Lawrence ‘Puff’ Summers is also part of the coaching staff for the men’s national team, with several of his club-mates amongst the Irish panel.
“When we got the news it wasn’t like everybody was as excited as most teams would be. Hopefully those guys will be coming off the European Championships literally three or four weeks before [the league starts],” Summers remarked.
“We have to follow very strict protocols at the moment and we were also getting tested before every practice. I’m not sure if the protocols will be as strict [at club level] and hopefully everybody will be close to being vaccinated by then, but once we get going we’ll still have to obviously be careful and be mindful of the whole COVID situation.”