Cork rivals put future on parade

Thirty years ago, two Cork men set up the community basketball clubs that dominate the women’s game in this country today.

If it was a struggle then, it’s not much easier now for Brunell’s Andrew Drumm and Tim Murphy of Glanmire — even if National Cup success does help.

In the gym hall of St Vincent’s secondary school on the northside of Cork city, there’s scant evidence Tuesday night of history in the making. Brunell’s U18 girls are eyeing a third successive National Cup final win, but outside the coach, injured players, the club secretary and its founder — now in his seventies — it might be a pick-up game between a gaggle of schoolgirls.

In some ways it is, even if in their midst is a waif-like figure, Edel Thornton, regarded as the brightest young basketball talent this country has produced since Susan Moran was in her pomp.

This is life as an elite basketballer in Ireland, more so a female player. When one of Brunell’s U20 stars, Megan O’Leary, insists she will be playing in tomorrow’s National Cup final against Cork rivals Glanmire, despite a manifestly evident achilles problem, it is easy to understand why.

Cup final weekend is more than a reward for defeating every other hopeful along the route. It’s a once-a-year rush, an adrenaline high for players who habitually play on the margins of our conscience.

Aren’t these the real sports stars of Ireland? Around the time 30 years ago that Andrew Drumm was forming Brunell basketball club on the northside of Cork city, Tim Murphy was doing something similar in Glanmire on the city’s eastern fringe. Both men have seen more than a lot of barren times, but the fathomless spirit of those wanting to play the game continues to inspire them.

“A lot of what we do throughout the year at National league level, they pay for themselves,” says Murphy of his Glanmire (Team Montenotte Hotel) players, who faced off with UL Huskies last night in the women’s national cup final, the first of three deciders the club contest this weekend.

“They get no expenses. If we’re going away, we will pay for a bit of petrol, but there’s no pre-match or post-match meals. They look after themselves. We’ve a good sponsor in Montenotte Hotel and John Gately, via the Boardwalk in the city. Liam Ryan (supermarket owner) in Glanmire has come on board as well with us this weekend which helps, but it’s a struggle. Everyone pulls together. How we make it happen? Because we need to.”

Andrew Drumm still cycles to every Brunell session, particularly the underage. Having seen his Brunell club engage briefly with the Superleague in its early years, they were skeleton and bone with one Under 12 side left when Kieran ‘Beag’ O’Leary arrived with his two daughters 18 years ago.

“Andrew asked me would I have a half an hour to spare a week, just to help out. That became seven days a week,” he smiles.

O’Leary is the club’s Under-18 and Superleague coach and father to Danielle and Megan, the U20 captain. “You can be sure she’ll play Sunday,” he insists, “even if I have to push her on in a wheelchair.” He’s half-joking.

Brunell are striving for three-in-a-row at U18 and back-to-back success at U20. Their rivalry with Glanmire — “very keen on the court, friendly off it“, insists Brunell secretary Jason Thornton — has swung in their favour in recent years. But to zoom out from the struggle for Cork supremacy is to see the power and dominance the southern capital is now wielding on the women’s game in this country.

“Cork ladies basketball has grown hugely without too much attention being paid to it“, explains Murphy. “So much so that we’re at the stage where we could field three national league teams if so required, all capable of competing. About 13 years ago, when I became involved with Cork Ladies Board, we had 55 teams playing. Four years ago, there was 126. There are so many good players at the moment. Cork is the envy of the country.”

This morning’s national cup U18 final and tomorrow’s U20 equivalent will be contested by Brunell and Glanmire. The schools U19A final this week was between St Vincent’s and Coláiste an Phiarsaigh. Christ the King from Turner’s Cross in Cork city were cup semi-final losers, coached by Francis O’Sullivan, the ex-Demon.

“After the game that day I said to myself, ‘okay that was a privilege to coach against her. Stunning. ” O’Sullivan is referring to 17-year-old Edel Thornton, a 42-point MVP for Brunell in their surprise cup semi-final win over Meteors earlier this month. But it isn’t that Thornton is a solitary beacon. Megan O’Leary and Amy Waters will power Brunell’s U20 challenge, while Glanmire’s U18s are fancied to stop their rivals hat-trick bid with National League players like Sarah Kenny, Hayley Lenihan and Olivia Dupuy.

“For the last eight years, Glanmire have made the semi-finals of the league,” says Murphy. “Seven out of the last eight years, the club has competed in the final of the senior cup. At U18, eight years in a row a team from Cork has been in the final. There’s no-one doing in ladies basketball what is being done out of Cork.”

It’s a daily grind though. Once this weekend is over, the sport will go back to a couple of column inches and a handful of diehards.

Says Kieran O’Leary: “From a club point of view, it’s a huge occasion. Each one of those kids came through the nursery, they’re staunch Brunell, and it’s a fantastic reward for all the coaches to see them coming through.

“We’d be the only girls basketball club on the northside. It’s very family-orientated, everyone is ready to give a dig out, whether that’s opening the hall or making a tray of sandwiches.”

Tomás Singleton owns the SuperValu store in Holyhill, and on such weekends, really comes into his own as Brunell’s value sponsor.

“He is covering the weekend for us, not a question asked. That is a massive boost for the club,” says Jason Thornton. He’s only involved five years but sees a common denominator in their underage success.

“That’s our U10s coach Ken Foley down there,” he says. “Sixteen years, he’s doing it. The U12 coach has been there for years, they don’t change. You see some clubs where coaches are chasing the successful teams. Our coaches stay put and work with what they have. Every child in the club has gone through and learned from every different coach, they’re not listening to the same voice season after season.”

Mr Drumm watches the session intently as the U18s make way for the U20 session at St Vincent’s: “We’ve struggled at times, but it’s a way of life for a lot of us. We’re a class of a family club really, which is what we want it to be. Nowadays we have a proper underage structure, which we didn’t have 20 years ago. Financially, we have a lotto going, we do bag-packing, pub quizzes, and bingo Wednesday night in the Joshua Tree. Everything helps, but Mr Singleton has really come up for us this weekend.”

Between yesterday and this morning, a fleet of red and white bedecked buses will pull out from Singleton’s store for the National Arena. While their U18s may be up against it, there are high hopes for the U20s.

“The rivalry is huge between Glanmire and Brunell,” says Tim Murphy, “but there’s also an acknowledgement of the huge work done from both sides. The future has to be about the kids coming through from our own programmes. Yes, there are floaters, but there’s a keen awareness of the importance of self-sufficiency. We can’t rely on players walking in the door to you.”

Both clubs fulfil another important need — providing the standard of basketball for the clutch of elite talents who need such an outlet if they are to realise their ambition of playing colleges ball in the United States.

Of course, sometimes that means plucking talent from other junior clubs around Cork, though Murphy insists relations between the ‘big two’ and the smaller clubs has been “pretty good”.

Of course, Glanmire are haemorraghing players too. “A number of years ago, five of our players ended up in America playing college ball, which killed out chances of being U20 champions. Orla O’Reilly went to America for four years, and is now playing pro basketball in Spain, Jessica Scannell is doing likewise in England, Sinead O’Reilly the same. Clodagh Scannell scored 17 points with Boston University this week.

“Now you have Casey Grace, Emily O’Callaghan, Lisa Dennehy and Stephanie O’Sullivan over in America. You sort of forget there are so many players who could be playing with us, but aren’t.”

And yet Glanmire and Brunell plough on, developing players and standouts at a rate that is the envy of Dublin and beyond. Heaven help the rest if they merged into one superforce.

Perhaps it’s just as well their rivalry is so keen.