A large Irish with an English flavour
This weekend sees the 5th annual Kilkenny Masters (Over 40s and 50s Ladies & Men’s) Basketball Tournament in three venues around Kilkenny City.
The event promises to be a fantastic local feast of a sport that has always been popular in Kilkenny, with locals and Irish visitors as the main course, with an interesting dash of English friends.
The 32 teams in action will be Cork, Kerry, Clare, Mayo, Dublin, Offaly, Carlow, Cavan, Laois, Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny. From England will be Yorkshire, Bristol and Birmingham.
There will be over 350 players and officials taking part in three days of sporting action, with the equally important.
Social night out is in Paris Texas on the Saturday evening. The importance of well-being and health and fitness for adults is highlighted in that action men and woman playing continue to enjoy sport into their ‘forties and ’fifties.
Games get under way in O’Loughlin Gaels on this Frida, March 3 from 7.30pm, with Kilkenny ladies 40s team of Marble City Mayfairs taking on Vixens of Dublin in the Seamus Walsh Cup.
Immediately afterwards, Kilkenny men 40s team meet Ballina of Mayo, with new recruit Puff Summers added to the local line-up.
As well as being the current Assistant Coach of the Ireland Men’s basketball team, Puff has been playing Superleague with Dublin outfit, Templeogue.
The Lar Murphy Memorial Cup is at stake for the eventual winners in this category.
Mayor David Fitzgerald will be in O’Loughlin’s to officially open the tournament.
Under 11 boys and girls Kilkenny Stars teams play beforehand.
The bulk of the games will be on Saturday, spread across O’Loughlin Gaels, Loreto and St. Kieran’s College halls from 9am to 5pm. Admission to games is free.
Finals will be in the same venues on Sunday and will be streamed live on www.basketballireland.tv
You can check out their website and Facebook page for more details, www.kilkennymasters.ie .
In addition, there will be a Wheelchair Exhibition game between the players of the South East Swifts basketball team in St Kieran’s hall, scheduled for 12 noon on Sunday.
Supporters can enjoy how Pat O’Neill and his team manage to weave their way round a court on wheels.
Marble City Hawks ladies National League team will provide a catering service at each venue to fundraise for their club.
Kilkenny Masters committee thank all who helped bring this tournament to fruition, especially sponsors Paris Texas, Pembroke Hotel, CluneTech, Langton’s Hotel, Sport Ireland (Age & Opportunity), Basketball Ireland, Newpark Hotel, Eugene Foley Construction, St Canice’s Credit Union, Pat Carroll’s Bar, Hennessy Sports, Mountain View, TJ Reid Health & Fitness, Infocus Opticians, Hibernian Hotel, DJsolutions.ie, moonbehindthehill.ie and drawinginc.ie
