Moycullen were the big winners at Basketball Ireland’s annual awards, winning the Irish Club of the Year crown, while NUIG’s Mystics star Ailish O’Reilly awarded the National League Young Player of the Year.
Moycullen’s award comes after a season in which the club enjoyed success on the big stage. Two of the club’s most memorable wins came in the overtime SuperLeague thriller against DCU Saints and the u-18 National Cup quarter-final triumph away to KUBS of Dublin.
Those highlights, along with their eye-catching SuperLeague season, large presence on Irish squads of all ages, and numerous nationally competitive underage teams, helped persuade the media to name them club of the year.
John Cunningham, who collected the Club of the Year award on behalf of Moycullen, says: “Moycullen has received huge levels of support from a lot of Galway basketball people throughout our first four years in SuperLeague and in general for our role in promoting the game.”
“While we might have been the most visible club in recent years, the award is really for all the clubs that are driving the game to new levels in Galway.”
Saturday marked the third occasion Moycullen have won Club of the Year honours, the previous two coming in 1997 and 2000 as the club continued to develop one of the best underage programmes in the country.
Previous Galway winners include Titans which won the award in 2006, while Calasanctius in Oranmore and St Joseph’s in Galway city have both previously been named basketball school of the year.
Ailish O’Reilly of NUIG Mystics was named the National League Female Young Player of the Year, and her teammate Aileen Crowley accepted the award on her behalf.
O’Reilly enjoyed an outstanding season with Mystics, which reached the women’s division one playoffs for the first time.
O’Reilly led the team in scoring with 21 points per game and was the engine of the team throughout the season as the 19 year old proved a true court leader despite her young age.
