The new Irish basketball season tips off this weekend, with a host of changes in personnel creating the prospect of an intriguing battle for honours.
The women's ESB Superleague tips off on Saturday night with a total of nine teams entered. Drimnagh Dynamoes and Killarney's St Paul's have stepped up from Division One and, with new entrants Tipperary Talons, this year's competition will be the biggest in years. Former Bausch & Lomb Wildcats captain Christine Kiely and Michelle Maguire have both retired, leaving only Olivia O'Reilly and Catriona White from the original triumphant squad. University of Limerick are left with a thin outfit after the departure of the Kyne sisters, Maire Guiney, Carol Fennell and Juliet Murphy for various reasons. Reigning Superleague champions Tolka Rovers have a new coach, David Biggins, while Maeve Coleman concentrates on the Irish Cadette squad.
It looks like it is going to be a wide-open men's ESB Superleague (beginning on October 5). 12 teams will participate in total, following the departure of Sligo and Tyrone Towers. Waterford Crystal are back to retain their league title, but without Foreign Player of the Year James Singleton, who has signed with UCC Demons. Neptune are hotly fancied to take the title from Waterford Crystal with Stephen McCarthy and Gordon Fitzgerald back in the squad. Charron Watson and Kenny Gamble are also re-signed, along with David Langrell, who played one game with the Cork team last season. The Kerry teams, Tralee Tigers and Gleneagle Lakers are currently endeavouring to secure new players, and, with both teams employing professional coaches, expectations are high. Tralee, however, will be forced to play most of the season without Rikardo Leonard, who is recovering from a recent operation on his Achilles tendon. Brandon Hughes is back for a third consecutive season, while Patrick Fitzpatrick has transferred to Waterford Crystal.
Meanwhile, on the international circuit, the Irish senior men are back in action against Germany on the 20th November for the second leg of their European Championships semi-final round at the ESB arena in Tallaght, warming up with a home friendly against England on November 18th.
This weekend's domestic basketball fixtures :
ESB Women's Superleague (September 28th) - Dart Killester v Glanmire, Sasha Meteors v Drimnagh Dynamoes, Scruffy's St Paul's v Bausch & Lomb Wildcats, Tipperary Talons v Tolka Rovers.
ESB Men's Division One (September 28th) - Moycullen v Newport, Longford Falcons v Lundy Foods Ballina, Longnecks Ballina v Tyrone Towers.
Filed by James Boylan.
