It has been a long wait, but the elite of Irish basketball, including Moycullen and Maree, are once again preparing to take the court for the start of a new Superleague season.
As always, Moycullen enter the season full of hope and enthusiasm powered by an uncommonly young squad built around homegrown talent ready to battle against the best basketballers in the country.
Moycullen’s returning head coach John Cunningham says it has been a long wait for the game.
“Like every sports club over the course of the pandemic, it has been incredibly difficult to plan and get a sense for what a season might look like. However, with every week as the start date rolled closer, there has been an increasing feeling of optimism and excitement.
“As has been the case often before, we are going to be one of the younger teams in the league, but I think we have a nice mix in the group. Without a doubt there’s great energy with the lads to get going and compete again”.
For the 12th time in the last 13years, Moycullen will be in the very top league against the country's historic clubs of Irish basketball, such as Neptune, Marian, Killester and defending champions Belfast Star.
And this weekend it is a local derby that kicks off proceedings in NUI Galway as Moycullen and Maree meet on Saturday (7pm ). Maree are the home team for the encounter, before Moycullen host their own official first home game the following weekend at 3pm on Sunday October 17 against Kieran Donaghy and the Tralee Warriors.
Moycullen will field an interesting mix of experience and youth this season with returning stalwarts Joe Tummon, Josh Marvesley, Conor Curran, James Lyons, Kyle and Dylan Cunningham, and Paul O’Brien at hand to steer the group through the inevitable ups and downs that come with a Superleague season. And up and coming youth club stars Rory O’Sullivan, Cormac Croke and Liam Maloney will be looking to these veterans to guide them as their Superleague careers get under way.
Moycullen received a number of welcome boosts over the extended off-season with confirmation that professional American Grant Olsson, a fan favourite for his tireless work ethic and scoring prowess, has agreed terms with the club and is returning for another year. Also, the addition of former underage star Eoghan Kelly, back from his time in the United States, gives the squad a real leader at the point guard position after the departure of Patrick Lyons, who is currently playing professionally in German.
Whatever way it pans out, supporters will undoubtedly just be glad to be able to get back into the Kingfisher Sports Centre and cheer on their teams.
Due to Covid restrictions, capacity for the first two weeks of the season (October 9 an 16 ) is limited to 60 per cent capacity (Covid certs required for adults ).
