New Ireland captain Edel Thornton is ready for the responsibility

With Grainne Dwyer not named in a callow squad to play four friendlies against Estonia and Portugal in the coming weeks, the onus will lie solely on the point guard from Cork

SKIPPER: Edel Thornton has been named as the new Irish basketball captain. Pic: INPHO/Evan Treacy

Life comes at you fast in sport. Retirement, a word we usually associate with old age pensions and decades of service, starts to tap its watch in your late twenties, if you’re lucky. Leadership can come calling long before that.

Edel Thornton was still a few weeks shy of her 25th birthday when James Weldon made her joint-captain of Ireland’s women’s team for the 2023 EuroBasket qualifiers against the Netherlands and Czech Republic late last year.