French test first but Ireland eye Latvia win in sellout
Ireland coach James Weldon
Ireland women’s basketball head coach James Weldon is confident his team can show progress this week and secure an elusive victory as they take on France and Latvia in Women’s EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers.
Weldon’s side are winless so far in their qualifying campaign but had some impressive performances in the summer. In only their second campaign back at this level since the reformation of the senior teams, the Ireland coach is pleased with his side’s progress.
“We had a good win over the Netherlands at home and ran Denmark close. Both of them are 30 or 40 places ahead of us in FIBA rankings. There’s a great amount of talent coming through,” Weldon said.
“We didn’t have a team for so long. We were out of the loop completely. It was only three years ago that we were playing the likes of Andorra in the Small Nations. I was joking with the players that it’s the battle of the silver medalists, we were silver medalists in the Small Nations and now we’re playing the Olympic silver medalists.”
Bridget Herlihy, who plays with Unicaja Mijas Malaga in Spain, is excited about the test on Thursday evening against France.
“I love playing with this team, the vibe on it, and getting to compete against some of the best teams in Europe and the world. We have to go in knowing that they’re an incredible team and just do our best,” said Herlihy.
“We have to stick to our goals for the game. Individually, it’s about playing my own game and staying grounded the whole time.”
Herlihy, who is from Boston but naturalised to play for Ireland through her grandparents, feels that playing with the national side is helping her develop as a player.
“Getting these windows where we play against a different level of competition is great. It doesn’t just challenge us to be better, it also shows us where we are against the better competition in Europe,” she said.
“The level I play against in Spain is great but being able to play against some of the best players in Europe and the world is a great test. It gives me motivation to get better and get closer to their level.”
While Ireland will be enormous underdogs away to France on Thursday, Weldon is confident his side can earn their first qualifier win over Latvia on Sunday in Dublin.
“With the experienced players back in the line-up, the home court advantage, and the lessons we learned from the last time we played them, we’re in a good position. We’re going to use the French game to get ourselves back up to speed and there’s no better opposition to do that,” he said.
“Latvia have to go all out against Israel on Thursday, then they have to come to Dublin where hopefully we’ll be a little bit fresher.”
The game in the National Basketball Arena is a sell-out and Weldon knows having a strong home crowd could be crucial to Ireland’s chances.
“It’s fantastic, it’s not that long ago that we didn’t have a team. It’s a great testament to the federation and [CEO] John Feehan getting behind us along with the effort the players have put in,” he said.
“It’s a good sign that a couple of the players have gone down the professional path. It’s probably one of the most important things for us going forward, to get more players doing that. If we could get at least 50% of the squad playing pro, it would make us so much more competitive.”
Regarding his own future, Weldon hasn’t committed to staying on as head coach if Basketball Ireland offer to extend his deal beyond this campaign but said he is certainly open to it.
“I’ll have to talk to my wife, we’ve two small kids at home, so we’ll see. It’s a huge commitment, there’s a lot more to it than the international window but I thoroughly enjoy it.”
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