Sparkling climax to juniors’ campaign
SPARKS Basketball Club held its annual end-of-year fun tournament for its junior players recently and despite the glorious sunshine outside almost 60 girls of all ages flocked to Drogheda’s Sacred Heart gym to compete.
The morning kicked off with players from the U-14 and U-16 club squads who were divided into mixed teams, followed by the U-10 and U-12 players in the afternoon.
It was the perfect opportunity for them to showcase the new skills they had acquired during what was a very busy season for the club.
In total Sparks had four teams competing in leagues – the senior ladies, U-16s, U-14s and U-12s – while the training programme for U-10s took place one night a week.
Although none of the teams came home with silverware this year, they came very close, with two teams competing in the Topfours and two in the Plate.
The club has expanded considerably over the past number of years and is very grateful to Sacred Heart School for the continued use of the gym.
After the tournament, which was attended by a large number of spectators, the presentation of the club’s end-of-season awards to the junior players took place.
Award winners
U-16 Player of the Year - Ciara NicChriosta; Most Improved Player - Laura Mulligan; Best Defender - Gretta McEvoy.
U-14 Player of the Year - Jessica Duggan; Most Improved Player - Heather Brock; Best Defender - Kym Farrell; Team Player of the Year - Alanna Hughes Kenny.
U12 Player of the Year - Megan Hanratty; Most Improved Player - Jessie Riggs; Best Newcomer - Sophie Clarke; Team Player of the Year - Beth Reilly; Shooting Competition - 1st Jennifer Smith, 2nd Sarah Leonard, 3rd Heidi Smyth.
Training has now finished for the summer and players are asked to please keep an eye on the Sparks Facebook page for details of enrolment for next season.