Basketball season opens with Rankings tourney
This tournament has been introduced to offer Irish school developed players an opportunity to gain valuable on-court experience in a competitive environment and also aims to assist clubs in evaluating their home based playing standards.
The tournament is only open to players who have followed a pathway through the Irish system of player development from school age onward and participation is compulsory for all Superleague and top four Division One clubs.
There will be four pools of four teams playing in a round robin format with ranking positions 1-16 to be employed over a three-year period as part of the evaluation of player development and playing standards within clubs.
The 12 teams in the ESB Superleague will now participate in a conference format. Gleneagle Lakers, Tralee Tigers, Neptune, UCC Demons, Waterford Crystal and Burger King Limerick will participate in the South conference while the Dublin teams, UCD Marian, St Vincent’s, Notre Dame, Killester and Tolka Rovers will be joined by Star of the Sea from Belfast in the North Conference.
There will be three series of games within each conference and one series of games in a cross-conference format with the top three teams qualifying for the play-offs next March.
As an integral part of the overall strategic plan for the sport and to lead the development of the Superleague, former St Vincent’s player, Karl Donnelly, will take up the position of Superleague Manager at the end of the month.
He will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the men’s Superleague, including the implementation of standards relating to participation in the league and will recommend policies to the Superleague Management Committee.
As a player with St Vincent’s he was named Player of the Year in 1993 before going on to help Ireland lift the Promotions Cup the following year.
He was also involved in the European Championship campaign 1995-1997 while, more recently, he has been excelling at Gaelic Football helping Na Fianna to Dublin senior championship success in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
The Irish Basketball Association has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Turkish Basketball Federation.
The agreement commits both parties to co-operate in areas such as the general management and development of basketball, exchange of young players, coaches and referees and the organisation of friendly international games at both club and national team levels.
“The initiative is an essential part of the Strategic Plan to develop Irish basketball,” Tony Colgan, President of the IBA, said.
“I would urge everyone involved in our sport to make maximum use of this unique opportunity to learn from the experiences of one of the most advanced basketball countries in Europe.”
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