Killester Basketball Club

After a fantastic year on the court for DART Killester it was nice to see two of the clubs rising stars Aishling Sullivan and Isaac Westbrooks being honoured for their achievements.

Both players were called up to the Irish squads for the European Championships. Aishling made an impressive star in the friendly wins against Luxembourg and will be in Sasa Punosevac’s side for the games against Portugal on Tuesday and Wednesday at the National Basketball Arena.

Isaac was injured for the men’s games against Luxembourg but was included for the first of the European qualifiers of the year against Switzerland last Saturday. On a dismal day for the Irish in an 86-58 loss Isaac was one of the few to shine along with Conor Grace. Jason Killeen and Paul Cummins

The inaugural Jim O'Kelly Golf Classic took place last Friday, 24th August at Black Bush Golf Club. On a beautiful sunny day, over 100 of Jim's friends got together to enjoy a game of golf, remember their late friend and raise money for charity.

Jim's untimely death from cancer in January 2006 was a devastating blow to all his friends in Killester Basketball Club. He was a popular and well respected member of the Killester team who won 3 National Leagues in a row back in the 70s.

The Classic was a huge success as everyone enjoyed a challenging course on the best day that Summer 2007 has given us. It was fitting that the inaugural Jim O' Kelly Golf Classic was won by a team entered by one of Jim's friends and team mates from his Killester days. Martin Grennell's team was captained by Jimmy Penrose and they won with a fine score of 92 points.

Apart from gathering lots of Jim's friends together the Classic raised over €5,000 which Jim's wife Siobhan, will donate to cancer research.

It has been a busy few days for DART KILLESTER head coach Mark Keenan. Apart from the preparations for Irelands European Championship qualifiers he also had the little matter of two games for the NIVEA FOR MEN Superleague Champions against two American colleges, Marymount University and Misericordia.

On Friday Mark used a young squad and just lost out to Marymount in the final quarter of a hotly contested game 64-55.

It was back to winning ways for DART KILLESTER the following day as Keenan’s side beat Misericordia 58-48.

Mark then had to make a quick dash to Tallaght to fulfill his role as assistant coach to the Irish men’s side that went down to Switzerland.

We at DART KILLESTER would like to wish our uniform sponsor since 1985 O'Neill's all the best in its new sponsorship arrangement with Basketball Ireland.

O'Neill's have supported Irelands biggest basketball club through thick and thin and we are delighted that the Irish National teams will be wearing O'Neill's uniforms for the next three years.

Our thanks to O'Neill's MD Tony Towell for his magnificent support of DART Killester and a big thank you to Jennifer Redmond, Cormac Farrell and the design team for providing us with the best and most modern designs in basketball uniforms.

We are delighted to announce that DART Suburban Rail has renewed it’s partnership with DART KILLESTER BASKETBALL CLUB.

Club Chairman Michael McCormack expressed his delight at the news. “It is fantastic news for us in our 40th year. This is our sixth year with DART and it just keeps getting better. The partnership that we have with the team at DART Suburban Rail and Irish Rail is second to none and we are looking forward to the continuation of our relationship”

“Last year was incredible culminating in DART Killester winning the Nivea for Men Superleague and our 40th Anniversary Black and Orange Ball but there is so much more that we have planned and Barry, Joe and Rita at Irish Rail are so much behind us as we try to achieve our goals” added a delighted McCormack.

Irish Rail Media and PR Manager Barry Kenny described the partnership with Ireland’s biggest basketball club as an ideal fit.

“When Declan King first approached me six years ago I honestly did not think that we would be where we are today but the club is fantastic and we are delighted to be extending our partnership”

“The club has so many teams and even more great ideas that we will be supporting them all along the way. Apart from the sponsorship our marketing team will be helping to promote the club and all its activities particularly its schools programme based along the DART from Portmarnock to Bray” said Kenny.

DART Killester is delighted to announce the signing of Caitlin Malcolm from Brandeis University. The 6ft centre has been the star of her college team for the past three years and was recommended to DART Killester by one of our former great players Colin Tabb.

DART Coach John O’Connor is delighted with his new acquisition. “Caitlin is a super athlete who can score and rebound while defensively she is top notch. Colin has seen her play and feels that she will fit into the team and the club. It was important for us that with such a young squad {all are under 20} that we got a player that would fit in and having spoken to her and her coach as well as some other coaches in her division I am convinced that we have that player in Caitlin

Dart Killester
V
College Miseracordia Dallas, PA

Saturday 25th @ 3pm
in St. Davids Secondary School,
Artane, Dublin

I have been following the Irish basketball league since I left, and I have to say Killester has built itself into a powerhouse team with an extremely strong tradition. I’m also proud to say that I am a part of the Killester Family. The time I spent with Killester basketball club was probably two of the most enjoyable years throughout my 6 year career. Even though I moved on to play in the Dominican Republic I believe that I built my foundation and learned what overseas basketball was all about in Dublin. Every time I read about how well the team is doing and see pictures of players like Issac (who was a kid last time I saw him), Paddy, and Jonathan, it makes me feel good because I know I played a part in them growing up and getting better. They were the class of their league when they were under 21, and it seems not much has changed. Please tell them all hello from me, and I promise to do a better job of keeping in touch. It was an honor and a privilege to be a part of the Killester Tradition

A terrific third quarter performance that saw John O’Connor’s young guns go from 39-36 to take a 16 point lead was enough to give DART Killester an excellent victory in the first of the girl’s pre-season games against a gallant and very sporting Elizabethtown College.

O’Connor had a squad of under 20’s and last nights performance certainly augurs well for the future providing O’Connor can recruit a good American to knit into the side. Leah Westbrooks will be a huge loss as she heads off on a four year scholarship to Mount St Mary but on last nights showing there are plenty there willing to fill her shoes.

DART KILLESTER Fiona Carrick 13, Shauna O’Connor 12, Leah Westbrooks 12, Aisling O’Sullivan 12

DART KILLESTER V ELIZABETHTOWN

DART KILLESTER ladies play a pre-season friendly against an American College, Elizabethtown from Pennsylvania on Tuesday night in Inchicore with a tip-off time of 7-45.

Come along and support John, Mark, Marie and the girls as they prepare for the new season.

The 2007 Seacoast Festival was a huge success with the girls from Killester. All the hard work done during the season with Bag Packing, Bucket Collections and a Pub Quiz paid off as the girls enjoyed the holiday of a lifetime in the USA.

First up was a WNBA game in Connecticut where the Suns beat the Seattle Storm in a very enjoyable game. Earlier that day the girls had the honour of practicing on the Suns court and were also given a personal tour of the players locker rooms. They were also invited to form a guard of honour for both teams as they ran on to the court. This was a most enjoyable start to the tour.

Next morning we drove 5 hours to Maine and our friends at Brunswick High School. The girls did themselves proud by beating Brunswick and Mount Arrarat in two close games. Then it was time to meet the host families at a cook out in Bowdoin College. The hospitality we all received was fantastic and everyone made us feel so welcome.

The next three days were very busy as there was a camp in the morning, beach or shopping in the afternoon and games in the evening. A memorable three days was completed by a tour of the beautiful Bowdoin College Campus.

Next up was a trip back down the coast to Portsmouth to meet more host families and compete in the Seacoast festival. The amazing hospitality continued as the girls were placed with fantastic people for the next seven days. Every day for the next week the girls played games, shopped, went to the Water Park and beach and had some great pool party's.

The games were the focal point of the trip and to travel to the home of Basketball and return with a 7 and 4 record was a great achievement for the team. There were some memorable performances against some very good teams including a very unlucky 4 point loss to last seasons State Finalists, St Thomas Aquinas. Another spirited performance against a powerful Morse team when we were missing the injured Kate Gillen and Ruth Carrick left us feeling very proud of the girls.

Although missing Hannah Thornton, Lauren Grennell and Alex Troy the girls played some great basketball and overcame extreme heat to bring home a winning record. Aisling O'Neill was a fantastic captain, Jade Daly showed her class in every game, Jenny McGrath, Kate Gillen and Sarah Murphy had some very impressive performances and Ruth Carrick, on her return from injury did some great work inside. Iseult Cremin, Ciara Kelly and Laura Brennan continue to improve and Kelly Hopkins showed great potential on her debut.

Our hosts were so impressed with our girls on and off the court that Killester had the honor of receiving two prestigious awards form the Festival. Ciara Kelly received the Jeff Walton Award which is given to players who demonstrate the true spirit of the Festival, Sportsmanship, Citizenship and Friendship. Congratulations Ciara!!

Killester Basketball Club were honoured to receive the Sophie Berounsky Community Service Award for it's commitment to the players in our club and to the Seacoast festival.

The girls received great support from a fantastic group of parents and from Club Chairman, Michael McCormack and his family during the week of the festival.

Special thanks to Jim, Dan, Steph, Rita, Julie, Maria and all the families who looked after us so well.

Killester under13 Girls played in their first International Basketball tournament when they travelled to the Youth Friendship Games in Holland on Tuesday 24 July. The games lasted for 6 days with over 6000 Athletes playing in 8 different sports.

On the Wednesday morning Killester lost their first game to Cosmos U.S.A. 33-12 and found out immediately that this was going to be a very difficult tournament, with all the other teams comprising of players two years older then the Killester team. Next up was Reign U.S.A. and although we were well-beaten 27-13 the team showed signs of improvement in this game. We had a squad of 14 players and decided from the outset that we were going to play all our players come what may, most of the other teams had only 8-10 players but this was a development step for us and we were not diverting from the plan. Next game up was a friendly game against the beaten Finalists Steelers U.S.A, this game almost caused a major international incident, Killester had the biggest bench seen in our history, their was 9 Killester players and around 25 USA players sitting on the bench supporting us. The Coach of Steelers warned the USA players they were not to cheer against the USA team and the reply was “ we won't cheer against the USA, but we will cheering for the Irish team”. As the coach passed our bench she said “ it doesn't matter about the score Killester have won this game with everyone in the hall supporting them”. The girls were here only a day and were getting on with the USA teams as if they were long lost friends.

On the Thursday morning we played a very big Energy U.S.A. and the girls came out of the blocks from the start putting in an excellent performance before losing 38-30. The coaching staff and parents as well as the massive USA support were beginning to think we could win a game in this competition yet.

Next up were The Lions, Zandvoort a local Dutch team, their smallest player was taller then our tallest player, it looked like we were in for a hiding however we brought the game to them and with a lot of help from the Dutch referee they finish winners by 28-26. Our girls were now showing that they were at the pitch of the competition. That evening, the second round draw took place and our next game was against the Dutch team.

The girls were up nice and early on the Friday in preparation for the return game in the hope that, if we continued to improve and with the massive support behind us that we could turnover The Lions, and win our first game against International competition. We were on top form and taking the game to the Lions, they were struggling from the pressure they were under with our girl playing really well and the two English teams joining the USA teams in support of the Killester team, everyone in the hall with the exception of the players playing on the other court was watching and supporting Killester, willing them on to victory but they need not have worried as we kept up the tempo and ran out easy winners 27-13. The celebrations, which followed, was worthy of the final itself, the World cup Final that is. The excitement, cheering, dancing, high fives, hugging, screaming and that was just the USA and English teams our girls were somewhere in the middle of the huddle we could not see them but we knew they were enjoying the moment.

After having something to eat it was time to play another USA team and the bigger Thrillers USA team beat us 36-22.

Unlike yesterday the girls were slow to rise from their beds on this very sunny Saturday morning, fatigue was setting in after the effort of playing in seven games however a word from coach Martin Grennell soon had the team motivated and ready for more. First up was Brentwood Fire from England, who were a young team like us and only had a couple of older players in their team. Killester although very tired dug in and competed through the game and finished on the right side of a 34-33 result.

Our next game was against Southend Swift who was much bigger and stronger for us but was made to work very hard for their 48-30 win. Our last game, which couldn't come soon enough for a very, very tired Killester team was against a Hungarian team, Misi Miskolc who were far to good for us running out easy winners 32-11. Misi Miskolc is a sports school that practice 3 hours a day on their basketball thus confirming the high standard of the tournament.

Our final day was meant to be a day trip to Amsterdam but when Michelle Clarke was selected to play for the European All Stars v USA All Stars the girls decided to forgo on the trip in favour of supporting Michelle and also coach Martin Grennell who was honoured with the job of coaching the European team.

What a great week we had, 10 games, Opening ceremony Party, Domino's Pizza party, Friendship party and fire work display to mention just a few. Roll on next year and as the players say “We are definitely going again next year”

DART Killester celebrates its 40th anniversary this month and what a season it has been for the club both at senior level and at underage. After the men’s superleague team completed a unique NIVEA FOR MEN Superleague and Northern Conference double the club was rewarded with Basketball Ireland’s coveted Club of the Year Award at its recent award ceremony at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin.

DART Killester coach Mark Keenan won the coach of the year award and speaking afterwards Keenan was full of praise for his players and coaching staff. “It was a fantastic achievement for us as a club. The guy’s have been absolutely fantastic and the support we got from the clubs committee and supporters and our sponsor’s DART and O’Neill’s has made it all worthwhile” said Keenan.

DART Killester Chairman Mick McCormack paid tribute to the wonderful work done by so many people to make the club so successful in this it’s 40th birthday year. “Winning the Club of
the Year was really the icing on the cake after a tough year. Not alone did we win the two major awards in the NIVEA FOR MEN Superleague but we also won twelve other trophies in the club. I am really proud of the way things have gone and the work that so many people did in this our 40th Anniversary year.

We have so many people who give of their time so unselfishly. I am also delighted for all our many sponsors especially DART Suburban Rail and O’Neill’s without whose help we would not be able to do what we do.”

“We are hopeful that both will continue their magnificent support of Killester” added McCormack.

Killester Basketball Club is the biggest basketball club in Ireland and
celebrated its 40th Anniversary with a Black and Orange Ball in March even though the actual birthday is this month. This was another event that made club Chairman Michael McCormack very proud. “It was a great night for the club and it was so good to see so many of our old faces back with us. The club continues to grow by the year and it is brilliant to see our Special Olympics section doing so well. We had our jamboree recently at the IWA and it was fantastic to see all our Special Olympics athletes and helpers and supporters having such a great time” added a very proud McCormack.

With forty teams to look after DART Killester is always on the look out for extra funding and the clubs treasurer Dave Carrick has just started a lottery. Details of which can be had from Dave on 087-2223903 while Jerome Westbrooks has launched a new season ticket offer for all the clubs Nivea for Men Superleague season. You can contact Jerome on 01-8392612