The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Fergal embodying the Tralee Warriors spirit
Dan Kearney speaks with Tralee Warriors stalwart Fergal O’Sullivan about his career on the boards and hopes for the future
FERGAL O’Sullivan is an important part of Tralee Warriors’ success story. He runs the Castle Bar at the top of Rock Street with his first cousin and team mate Darren, and is, in many ways, cast in the mould of the many top sportsmen that have come out of the Street of Champions.
O’Sullivan is a witty, gregarious character off the court, but that changes when he puts on the green and blue singlet as he morphs into an aggressive, abrasive soldier that will do almost anything to get the win. He can back it up as well though, and when his eye is in, he possesses a three point shot that can change the narrative of a game in seconds. Things don’t always go to plan, of course, and the likes of the great Tralee basketball man Gat Carey will quickly let Fergal know about it when he pops into the bar. All in the spirit of craic and hop ball of course, but it keeps O’Sullivan on his toes.
Fergal is currently running his ‘Shooters’ basketball camp at Moyderwell gym and he has a full cast of 25 youngsters for three different sessions a day. His coaching crew is impressive, with local star Rachel Ryan joined by 7’ 2” Cian Sullivan (just back from a scholarship with La Salle University in USA), and Warriors centre, the towering Daniel Joukubaitis.
The camp is a throwback for O’Sullivan, who started learning the skills of the game as a young fellow himself, and he’s thankful to the coaching he received from some local legends back in the day.
“I started with Tigers at six or seven years of age with Seanie and Bruddy Burrows,” he recalls. “Then the juvenile section kind of fell away a bit, and I ended up with St Brendan’s when I was eleven, with Charles O’Sullivan coaching. Charles and Bruddy were massive for me with my own career. Bruddy was a colossal influence and he taught me how to shoot the ball down in Presentation Hall. It’s things like that that stick with you.”
O’Sullivan progressed through the ranks at St Brendan’s and when they entered the National League Division One in 2003, the then 16-year-old was soon playing at the second highest level in the country. There were opportunities to play Super League with Tralee Tigers to come, but they were top heavy with American’s, Bosman players and local stars, and O’Sullivan didn’t fancy sitting on the bench whilst travelling all over the country.
He continued to play Division One National League for a number of years, but when St Brendan’s pulled out, he was back to togging out at local level only. County league was fine for a while, and it still got the juices flowing, but with Kieran Donaghy now back on board, and the emergence of Ryan Leonard, they decided to have a go at winning the 2016 National Intermediate Cup.
St Brendan’s marched through the competition with ease and enjoyed victories over Shannon Jets, Sligo All Stars, Portlaoise Panthers, Eanna, and Cork Celts, before dispatching Leixlip in the final with a 76-60 victory.
They brought a phenomenal support to the final (they had a huge following all through the competition actually), and there was a real feel good atmosphere to Tralee basketball once more. Donaghy recognised that they could be on to something big, and steps were made to unite St Brendan’s and local rivals Imperials. It wasn’t straight forward, but the committee were sound, and the clubs agreed to work together. They needed a name, Donaghy suggested ‘Tralee Warriors’, and the rest, as they say, is history.
“When we came into the league we didn’t go through the system of Division 1 or anything,” Fergal says. “Star (Donaghy) got the ball rolling with the Super League people, and we went straight in. We brought a massive support to the Intermediate Cup final, and he made them realise that we had something that other clubs don’t have. The Kieran Donaghy influence is phenomenal, and we’ve gone from a team from Kerry that nobody thought was any good, to Champions Cup winners back to back (2017 and 2018), and Super League winners (2019). Then all of a sudden, we have, ‘hang on, who do these guys think they are’. It’s a massive kick in the pants for those Dublin and Belfast teams that have been struggling for 10 or
15 years and playing their part, but we’ve come along and made them realise that there’s basketball down here in Kerry.”
Mark Bernsen’s coaching was a huge factor in the Warriors success when he initially took over the role, and back to back Champions Cup wins are a testament to his abilities. Pat Price took over the mantle in 2018, before stepping down recently, and Fergal recalls very different coaching philosophies from two very different characters.
“Mark Bernsen was unbelievable at scouting teams and getting us ready. He was a very defensive coach though, and he was more worried about what the other team was doing as opposed to what we were going to do to them. At the same time, he brought us to a level of professionalism, and a knowledge of what needed to be done.
“Pat Price brought us to the next level where we were going to make teams worry about us, and we were always more focused on what we were doing. Our main focus for the last few years was ourselves, and what we could do to hurt them, rather than the other way round.Hegaveusa green light to express ourselves.”
Tralee Warriors looked odds on to reclaim their league title last sea
son, but a twist of fate completely outside of the basketball court ensured that they would finish the season feeling frustrated and angry, and with no silverware in the cabinet.
The tale of how it happened is scarcely believable. At the end of the day the difference between Warriors winning, and not
winning their second Super League title in a row was the princely sum of €22, as an administrative error in lodging the money was deemed serious enough to merit punishment from the Basketball Ireland rule enforcers.
The story goes a little like this: The club had released Keith Jumper in December, persistent injury had hampered his performance, and the decision was made to recruit 6’ 8” Andre Berry who had been playing in Finland. As per normal procedure, he needed to be registered with Basketball Ireland, but when the Warriors official tried to pay the €22 on the BI Comortais website, the usual option to pay wasn’t available.
The Tralee official e-mailed Basketball Ireland and received a reply that there was a technical glitch on the website. There would be no problem, they were assured, and Berry would still be eligible to play. The payment could be taken after the weekend.
Berry played against Marian, contributing 8 points in an 86-76 win, and he also played in the three-point loss to Star of the Sea in Belfast. A contribution of 23 points in an 80-77 win against Éanna signaled the quality that Berry had in his locker,
although Éanna were aggrieved at the end of the game when he picked up his fifth foul, only for the table officials to miss it, and he stayed on the court.
The rumpus that followed after Berry’s non dismissal from the game set in motion a series of events that would throw Warriors season into turmoil. The following Tuesday, with everyone back from the Christmas break, the same Basketball Ireland administrator contacted the Warriors official and told them that the registration hadn’t been paid, and that it needed to be, immediately.
The Men’s National Competitions Committee set about reviewing Berry’s eligibility, and after a series of toing and froing, they decided that he wasn’t registered to play after all. Warriors had their six points from the two wins taken off of them, and on top of that, they were fined €130 per game for the three games that Berry had played.
Tralee Warriors appealed, but again, after a series of legal wrangling’s, the original decision was upheld. Tralee ended up on 45 points at the end of the season whilst Star of the Sea were declared champions with 48. It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Tralee side.
Understandably, Fergal O’Sullivan is aghast with what transpired, and feels badly let down. Months of work and sweat had been for nothing, and his sides title was snatched away from them by the click, or non-click, of a computer keyboard.
O’Sullivan’s voice is full of pain as he recalls what happened, although he vows that things will be set straight in the upcoming season.
“It was shocking. For a bunch of fellas, local fellas, we gave up countless hours, three or four nights a week training, and for it to come down to a courtroom decision was scandalous. It should have been handled differently. Absurd.
“If it was me… look they didn’t win it…if it was me in the same circumstance I’d say, ‘nah we didn’t win the league’. You’ve been given a league medal, but I wouldn’t hold it in any sort of respect at all. I probably wouldn’t even keep the medal. It’s a massive motivation for us to win it next season.”
There will be at least another season for 33-year-old O’Sullivan, although at the end of 2019 he almost packed it in to concentrate on his golf. A member of Tralee Golf Club, he impressively plays off scratch, and during the summer months he competes in tournaments all over Ireland. He felt he needed to devote more time to it, but the sound of the hardwood kept knocking away inside his head, and after a month he was back training.
“I suppose I missed the competitiveness of the training. Darren, Star, and myself would be tearing strips off of each other trying to gain an edge, although we never came to blows or anything and it would be forgotten about as soon as we’d hit the showers! That edge is what makes us good, and I didn’t realise how much I’d miss it.”
With coach Pat Price stepping down, and ace point guard Paul Dick moving to Dublin, Warriors will be without two key components in their drive to claim back the Super League in the coming season. John Dowling, who served as assistant coach over the last few season, will more the likely take up the main role and ensure continuity, whilst the return of Cian Sullivan will add an extra dimension to the squads dynamic.
The new Super League season will start on October 17/18 and it has been decided that it will be run with a Southern Conference and Northern Conference for one season only. A statement from Basketball Ireland Chairman of the Men’s National Competitions Committee, Bernard O’Byrne said: “The new conference system in both the Super League and Division 1 was unanimously agreed by the clubs. This will help ease the financial burden on clubs, who continue to deal with the fallout from Covid-19. The playoffs will also bring an exciting climax to the league season.
“The 16-game regular Super League season will see teams play home and away ties against teams from their Conference, along with one match against teams from the opposing Conference. The top two from each Conference will advance to the semi-finals and the league season concludes with a Super League final.”