Gotham Drywall renew sponsorship of Ireland senior women's team

The Ireland senior women's team begin their Qualifiers journey in two weeks time on 14th November, when they travel to Amsterdam to face Netherlands in the opening game.

Speaking at the launch of the renewed partnership, head coach James Weldon indicated the impact it has had so far on the team.

"It’s fantastic to resign with Gotham Drywall. The really helped us to put a professional finish on our programme last season, and they have given extra support this time around. It takes a lot of pressure off the players with fundraising and they can just focus on getting ready and performing at the tournament. It’s certainly, especially in COVID times, a huge boost for the players", said Weldon.

Reflecting Weldon's sentiment was Ireland senior player Rachel Huijsdens:

"It’s been amazing. In the past we’ve had to fundraise ourselves, so in terms of training and getting to stay together as a team, it impacts how we play because we can just focus on the basketball rather than other aspects outside of it. So yeah it’s been really amazing. It gives us that extra confidence too, to have a name like Gotham Drywall behind us."

CEO of Gotham Drywall, John Fitzpatrick, spoke on the pride they felt after seeing how well the Ireland team performed at the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries last summer. "The teams performance in Cyprus was very inspiring, particularly the the semi-final. I think no matter where you were that day, no matter what country you were in, you were in the edge of your seat. It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to support the Irish women’s National team and the girls in particular. It’s very humbling."

From left: Ireland senior player Dayna Finn, CEO of Gotham Drywall John Fitzpatrick, and Ireland women's head coach James Weldon

Attention turns now to the upcoming pair of qualifiers in November, the second of which is to be played at home against Czech Republic at the National Basketball Arena on November 14th. "It’s exciting but everyone’s apprehensive too, we haven’t competed against teams at this level before so it’s something we are going to have to adjust to and get used to. It’s really exciting, it gives everyone that extra bit of motivation" said Huijsdens of the step-up in terms of competition, as the Ireland team enters the EuroBasket competition.