The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
St Mary’s basketball blitz is bigger and better than ever
IT’S as popular as ever and it’s back with aplomb this Christmas: the St Mary’s Basketball Blitz. This is a major deal for basketball fans in Kerry, and indeed outside the county, as teams are currently preparing to be part of what is an exciting occasion.
Now in its 49th year, it is a recognised gem by Basketball Ireland and the biggest of its kind in the country. Preparations have been going on for the past few months and the blitz takes place from December 26-30. All finals will take place in the community centre, but national school qualifying competitions will be run off in St. John’s Hall for the first three and a half days. As ever the St Mary’s Basketball Club caters for basketball enthusiasts from second class in national school, to premier men and women, and everyone in-between.
Preparations have been ongoing since early September and both tournament director Donal O’Connor and Castleisland Club Chairman Eamon Egan agree that the commitment given by all involved in the committee is second to none. Donal praised the local businesses and the tournament sponsors for their continued support for the event. Eamon said great credit is due to the teams who travel year after year to take part, in particular those who travel from outside of the county.
The club is delighted with the entries received this year from national schools all the way up to premier men. The Munster Joinery Premier Men Competition has plenty of local interest with county Super League teams, Garvey’s Tralee Warriors and Keane’s Supervalu Killorglin taking part, along with Kerry’s National League side Scott’s Lakers St. Paul’s from Killarney and Limerick Celtics. The qualifying games for this competition are expected to be played on December 27 with the final being the last game of the tournament on December 30.
Major sponsors for the event are Munster Joinery, Garvey’s Supervalu, Walsh Colour Print and Denjoes Restaurants (Castleisland and Killarney). A host of other very important sponsors equally contribute to keeping this fantastic event alive.
The committee are currently finalising the timetable and full details of the schedule for the whole five days will be outline in the Blitz programme, which is expected to be out at the end of the first week in December.