Pictured is No. 7 for UCD, Scott Kinevane.
Photo courtesy of Martin Doherty Sports Photography.
In our present climate in Ireland, where outdoor sports such as rugby and football can be hampered by its unpredictability, resulting in cancellations and frustrated players all kitted out and nowhere to go, it’s surprising that an indoor sport like basketball that uses skills involved in both of those games is not played more.
That aside, the two UCD clubs, UCD Marian and UCD Ladies, have many teams to facilitate the interest in the sport.
The UCD Ladies team currently have teams in the 2nd and 5th division of the Dublin Ladies League with their 5th Division team positioned third but still unbeaten, and currently placed fifth in the National Basketball Colleges Committee (NBCC) league.
NewsFour spoke with the UCD Marian U-18 coach Conor Meany, whose team are top of their table, on how the merging of UCD and Marian College came about: “After graduating, a number of students set up a basketball team to enable them to continue to compete. These include a number of current members and the current principal of Marian College, Paul Meany. The club was very successful in the 70’s when they won the National League in 1978.
“In the early 2000s UCD were looking to get a team competing nationally in the men’s Superleague but they didn’t have the club infrastructure to allow it. We had the infrastructure but didn’t have the venue and we also wanted access to better facilities and scholarship opportunities. We created a link agreement that led to the whole club becoming UCD Marian. The highlight to date was the 2011 National Cup win live on RTE.”
For young aspirants wishing to try basketball, UCD Marian run an academy for boys and girls aged 6-10 every Saturday in Oatlands College in Stillorgan.
UCD Marian also have a Masters League too with an age profile from late 30s to late 60s on Sunday mornings on a pay per play basis, where some past pupils of Marian College compete.
“You can see the experience with some of them, they let the ball do the work,” said one masters player, Vincent O’ Connor. The UCD Marian Superleague team are currently second in the league and have junior international, Donal Ring, in their squad as well as other internationals from the US and Spain. It also includes Marian College teacher Barry Drumm.
Marian College are building a new school gym and plan to have it ready in May 2017. They are looking to re-establish basketball in their original home.
If anyone is interested in basketball, they encourage you to contact ucdmarianbasketball@gmail.com or visit their website at www.ucdmarian.com.
By Paul Carton
