Derry Players Represent Ulster in Italy
In just over a week 10 of North Star Basketball Club’s junior members will be boarding a plane for Italy as they travel to take part in an international basketball tournament. The 10 came through a gruelling trial process to be chosen to represent Ulster and will be spending a week in Northern Italy near Venice. It is a fantastic achievement for the club and brings to a close the most successful season in its relatively short history. Further good news was received when one of the clubs coaches was asked by Basketball Northern Ireland to take on the role of head coach of the under 18 boys Ulster squad and prepare them for and coach them during the tournament.
It will be a huge challenge for the Derry players as they compete against top Italian clubs Torri Ferrara, Reyer Venezia and Pall. Mirano and the trip will also include a training session with top Italian coach Mr Mario De Sisti.
In previous seasons the most players selected to represent Ulster in a single season were 4 in the 2006/07 season. The increase to 10 this demonstrates the continued growth and success of the club. This year 3 boys were selected to the u16 panel, 4 boys for the u18 panel and 3 girls for the u18 girls Ulster squad. Considering each squad only consist of 12 players it is a remarkable achievement for the Derry side. Club coach Niall McDermott was asked to take the reigns as the head coach for the u18 Ulster boys’ squad. He was previously coach of the Ulster u14 Girls squad but see’s the u18 boys as a huge step-up. North Star have spent the past few seasons developing their underage structures and now they are starting to see the results of all the hard work put in by the junior coaches over the past few seasons. This is reflected in the number of players being selected for their respective Ulster squads this year. North Star numbers grow each year but they still would like to have more kids involved especially girls around the under 14 age group. In the season past North Star expanded to have over 100 members between their 2 senior men’s teams and 8 junior boys and girls squads. All teams competed in the Basketball Northern Ireland Leagues with the u17 girls and u17 b boys’ squads winning their respective titles.
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