Ireland Masters final squads announced for of FIMBA European Championships

Basketball Ireland Masters' coaches have announced their final 12 players for the FIMBA Maxiball European Championship in Pesaro.

Seven teams will travel to Italy to compete over ten days from June 21st in categories from O40 to O65 men's and women's. The competition features more than 165 teams from around the world, with this being the largest contingent of players that the Basketball Ireland Masters programme has sent to compete since the inception of the programme. 

Basketball Ireland Masters Lead Mike Murray said:

"I'd like to thank all the coaches, managers, players and staff who have helped get us to this stage of the process. The enthusiasm showed by everyone involved has been amazing and preparation starts in earnest for all the teams now".

The 7️⃣ final 12 squads who will represent Ireland at the FIMBA European Championship in 🇮🇹 have been confirmed.

We will be competing in men's and women's categories from O40 to O65s. #Greenmeansgo ☘️

— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) April 11, 2024

You can find the full schedule for the competition here.

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O40 Women

Head coach Glenn Millar has selected his 12-person squad to compete against 11 teams in their category from Poland, Germany, Great Britain, Latvia, Italy, Estonia, Slovenia, Austria and Lithuania.

"I am delighted with the squad we have chosen," said Millar. There is a wide selection of players from all around the country. I look forward to working with this group of talented players, we have a lot of work ahead of us before the European Championships, but I am sure these players are willing to put in the effort."

Ireland O40 Women's Squad:

Amanda O’Regan (Fr. Mathews), Catherine Ashe (Portlaoise Panthers), Colette Vance (Drumlish Dragons), Deirdre Tomlinson (Portlaoise Panthers), Eleanor Curran (Oblates BC), Georgina Ni Hasa (Clare Galway), Grainne Tomlinson (Portlaoise Panthers), Irene Wallace (Tullamore), Marie-Louise Candon (United Woluwe), Nuala Carey (Bantry), Rosie Tobin (Tipperary Knights), Treasa Howell (Tullamore),

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O40 Men

Ireland O40 Men's head coach Kieran Leahy has chosen his final 12 players ahead of the FIMBA European Championships. They will compete alongside 10 teams from Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Slovenia, Estonia and Austria in June. 

“It's a great honour to represent your country and I am really proud of all the players who have turned up and put themselves in a position to be selected for the Ireland Squad. We have had a number of fantastically competitive practices in which all the players have shown me everything they are capable of. Every player in the squad had something positive to offer the programme at various times and the maturity and camaraderie of the group really was impressive and very enjoyable to coach. Picking the final 12 players and the reserves was no easy task and right up to the final practice the whole squad  were providing the coaching staff plenty of reasons to select them."

Leahy continued: "However a panel of 12 must be selected, and difficult calls were made to select a team that fit the team and the programme. I am delighted to announce my team and equally sad to have to release the other players following their incredible commitment and effort. I'd like to congratulate the final 12 players on making the squad, and i'm very confident the players we have selected will go on to represent the jersey with pride and honour and to the players who haven't made the team I really hope you have enjoyed the experience and hope to see you all trying out again next year."

Ireland O40 Men's Squad:

Vytautas Bronoslavaitis (Glasnevin), James Butler (Kilkenny Stars), Glenn Caulfield (UCD Marian), Tommy Costello (Glasnevin), Dan Deboss (Cavan Eagles), Ian Durham (Glasnevin), Martas Kraniauskas (Portlaoise Panthers), Michael McGinn (Neptune), Brian O'Neill (Neptune), Gonzalo Silva Vera (Barrow Rovers), Inarts Vitulo (Dublin Raiders), Marcus Walley (Neptune/Sydney Bears). 

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O50 Women

Ireland O50 Women's head coach Jay Fazande is able to include Basketball Ireland Hall of Fame player Karen Hennessey in his final squad of 12 to play at the FIMBA European Championship.

 Fazande will lead his charges against 12 teams from Italy, Great Britain, Spain, Brazil, Peru, Germany, Hungary and Slovakia. 

“I am delighted with the team selection. It was difficult making the selection with the talent that was on the panel and I hope that those who have missed out on this occasion will come back and try out for future competitions. There are many ex-internationals on the team who know what it takes to win at these championships, and I am confident that we can learn from each other and grow together as a team over the coming months.

Of the 12 players selected 6 of the players are from Dublin clubs, 1 from Scotland and 1 each from Cork, Kildare, Limerick, Longford, and Louth clubs. I am super excited and really looking forward to competing against Europe’s elite”.

Ireland O50 Women's Squad:

Breda Cassidy (Naas Serpents), Caitriona O’Gorman (Pegasus), Geraldine O’Flynn (Glasgow Fever), Karen Hannigan Collins (Glasnevin), Karen Hennessey (Meteors), Karen Staunton (Oblates), Liz Nolan (Pegasus), Mags Downey (Bantry), Maria Flynn (Maol Og), Michelle Mulvey (Drumlish Dragons), Siobhan Byrne (Drogheda Wolves) and Ursula Kyne Fahy (Springfield BC).

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O50 Men

Ireland head coach Martin Conroy has trimmed his squad down to 12 for the O50 men's category, where Ireland will come up against 18 teams from Italy, Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Serbia, Switzerland and Poland.

"It was a tough call with the final cut  from 20 to 12 . We had a talented  selection of  over 50 men who attended a  number of intense training sessions. I look forward to working with our final 12 + 2 Reserves selected   ahead  of  our European  Championship   in June  2024  .  

Ireland O50 Men's Squad:

Scott Summersgill (Glasnevin BC) , Mike  Murray  (Claregalway) - Co- Captains, Greg Dunne (Portlaoise Panthers), Jason O'Callaghan (Neptune ),  Bobby Temple (Glasnevin BC ), Nollaig  Cunningham (Maigh Cuilinn), Alan Fearon (UCD Marian ), Eugene Walsh (Portlaoise Panthers), Kieron O'Sullivan (Ballincollig), Ricardo Leonard (St  Brendan’s) Vice-Captain, Aoghan Courtney (Club Amber Kilkenny), Tony McDonagh. 

Reserves: David  McAndrew (Claregalway), Lawrence Patrick (UCD Marian)

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O60 Women

Ireland O60s women’s head coach Mike Lydon has named his 12-person squad ahead of the FIMBA European Championship in June. 

“I am delighted to announce the 12 players who have been selected to represent Ireland in the FIMBA European Championships. The squad selected has shown during the selection process that they are the best players to represent Ireland in Pesaro, Italy. It is always difficult to name the final squad as it means that some of the players who have put in a huge amount of work during team trainings to date don’t make it.  We will continue the hard work over the next two months in preparation for the European Championships and I believe that this team has the potential to be very successful this summer”. 

Ireland Women’s 60s Team:

Bernie Lillis Kenny (unattached), Carol Chubb (Glasnevin Ladies), Fidelma Bonass (Glasnevin Ladies), Regina Bermingham (Glasnevin Ladies), Maureen Gannon McDermott (Glasnevin Ladies), Orla Curran (Glasnevin Ladies), Patricia O’Connor (Pegasus), Paula Ryan-Kavanagh (Glasnevin Ladies), Regina Joye (Pegasus), Suzanne Lakes (Glasnevin Ladies), Therese Traynor (Aer Lingus), Trinie Naylor Kennedy (Ballina Pacers).

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O60 Men

Ireland O60 Men's head coach Niall McDermott has chosen a squad of 11 players to travel to the FIMBA European Championships this summer. 

McDermott's men are in their category along with 23 teams from Australia, Serbia, Greece, Austria, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, Switzerland, Estonia, Spain, Slovenia and Croatia. 

“I am delighted with the team we have chosen, there is a wide selection of players from all around the Country with no less than 11 clubs represented. I am looking forward to working with this talented group of players who have demonstrated their willingness to put in the hard work and training to achieve a successful championship. We have a well-balanced squad and a good mix of players who have previous FIMBA experience. The standard of competition will be very high, and we will continue to work hard over the next few months to ensure we can perform at our best when we reach Italy.”

Ireland O60 Men's Squad:

Neil Curran (Nomads, Dublin), Kevin Gannon (Galway), Todd Gfeller (North Star, Derry), Paul Grealy (Cavan Eagles), Paul Kenny (Tolka Rovers, Dublin), Aidan McGahan (Tyrone Towers), Edward C. Randolph (Dublin Raiders), Jim Walsh (Eagles, Kildare), Harry Walsh (Corrib, Galway), Jerome Westbrooks (Killester, Dublin), John (Sean) Wynne (Queens, Belfast). 

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O65 Men

Ireland O65 men's head coach Pat Morahan has made his final 12 selected for the FIMBA European Championship, with three players from UCD Marian and two overseas based players making the trip. 

"Congratulations to all the players for being selected  to represent Ireland at the forthcoming FIMBA European Championships in Pesaro, Italy. After winning 3 games at the Strathclyde Masters tournament last weekend , we hope to keep making progress at the Dublin Masters in May. It's a massive privilege to coach such a talented and committed team and we will do our utmost to display skill, dedication, and sportsmanship both on and off the court."

Ireland O65 Men's Squad:

Vincent O'Connor (UCD Marian), Brendan Burke (UCD Marian), Michael Chubb (Kubs, Dublin), Pat Quirke (New York), Eamon Molloy (Killester), Liam Lavelle (UCD Marian), Noel Cosgrove (Templeogue BC), Eddie Guilmartin (Templeogue BC), Mick Ryan (St. Vincents), Anthony McHale (Mayo Meteors), Denis Sheehan (New York).