Happy New Year

On behalf of Irish Wheelchair Basketball, We’d like to wish all our supporters a very Happy New Year​.

2016 saw the Irish National Wheelchair Basketball Team compete in the European B Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina as a result of their 4th Place finish in Division C the previous year. While the team gave great performances in all their games, they unfortunately didn’t do enough to remain in Division B and will drop back down to Division C. 2016 also saw Jason Kennedy step down as National Coach after 3 years rebuilding the National Team Programme and taking the team to 2 European Championships. Todd James was recently appointed to succeed Jason as National Coach. Todd has many years experience coaching at the highest levels of the running game both in Ireland and in the NCAA College Basketball in the US.

The 2015/2016 Season saw 10 Teams compete in the National League which was won by the Limerick Scorpions. We had 3 Cups. The Paddy Byrne Cup which was won by NI Knights WBC, the Martin Green/Tom Walsh Cup which was won by the Ballybrack Bulls and the Gerard Larkin Cup which was won by the North East Thunder.

In June we held the inaugural Invacare Challenge Cup between the Ireland Senior Men’s team and the GB Junior Men’s team. The GB Junior Men’s Team came out on top 62 – 55. It was a great preparation match for the Europeans in July in Bosnia.

2016 also saw a record 6 teams take part in the Junior Blitzes throughout the year. These players are the future of the sport in Ireland and it’s great to see so many taking part. Already a number of the players who played at a Junior Level in 2016 are playing in the National League, most noticeably Jack Quinn and Dylan McCarthy who are both regulars for Fr. Mathews.

2015/2016 saw the introduction of a New National Wheelchair Basketball Cup with the Final being played as part of Basketball Ireland’s National Cup Weekend in January. The Final was contested between Ballybrack Bulls and Limerick Scorpions with the Scorpions coming out on top 70 – 36. The 2016/2017 Cup Final will be played on the 27th January again in the National Arena, Tallaght. The finalists have yet to be decided with both Semi Finals being played on the 14th January in the IWA Sports Hall, Clontarf. In the 1st Semi Final, last years winners Limerick Scorpions take on Fr. Mathews. In the 2nd Semi Final NI Knights take on Killester WBC.

Once again we’d like to thank all our supporters for their continued support throughout what has being a tremendous year for Irish Wheelchair Basketball. It’s really appreciated and we look forward to your continued support throughout 2017.