Basketball's new Super League side Maree hosts a top-class pre-season tournament in honour of former Maree player Donie Greene in Calasanctius College in Oranmore, Co Galway, at the weekend.
All the teams taking part in the tournament will face hosts Maree in this year's Super League, Swords Thunder, Belfast Star, UCD Marian, local rivals Moycullen, and champions Templeogue.
It promises to be an entertaining weekend of basketball, and a great opportunity for basketball fans to view Ireland's top players. It is also a tribute to the late Donie Greene, who sadly passed away aged 22. He had been due to line out for Maree in a local derby clash with Moycullen in a division one game, and now two years later, for the first time in the club's history, Maree are joining neighbours Moycullen in the upper echelons of basketball in Ireland.
A well known sportsman, Donie excelled in both Gaelic football and basketball. A member of Oranmore-Maree GAA club and Maree Basketball Club from childhood, he progressed through the underage ranks, winning many county titles in both codes. He starred for Calasanctius College, Oranmore, in the U19 A All Ireland Cup and League basketball wins, and featured on Maree teams that won U18 and U20 national Cup titles and in 2014 was on the team that won the National League division one title. He captained Oranmore to their U21 Galway title win.
Parents Sean and Betty and the Greene family are donating a specially commissioned trophy for the tournament which will be presented to the tournament winners by Donie's brother Daire on Sunday evening.
The first game on Saturday tips off at 11am followed by five more games with the last match scheduled for 6.30pm. Tip off on Sunday is at 10am with the final scheduled for 3pm.
The entry fee is €5 for adults and €2 for children.
