Mayo basketball star: 'I'd like to bring the young girls on'

The Mayo basketball star has moved to the Big Smoke and has created a stir right away.

Basketball international Hazel Finn has had a stellar start into the season with her new team Trinity Meteors.

The Dublin outfit won their first two matches in the Women's Super League. And the Kiltimagh native is already proving her worth on the court.

Finn might be the new kid on the block at Trinity Meteors but she is taking on a responsible role right away: “We are a very young team, and I'm only 22. But I've been seen as the oldest in the group,” Finn explains, speaking to The Mayo News.

"I hope to bring that leadership role that I've had with the Irish team from the past, with the amount of experience I have, I'd like to bring the young girls on.”

Finn switched jerseys this summer. Only in January this year she won the National Cup with Liffey Celtics. Hazel scored 13 points and marshalled her troops from the point guard position to a glorious 65-53 National Cup win against Killester.

Finn claimed the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for her inspiring performance. She was called up for Ireland duties after that.

Later during summer, Finn was part of the 3v3 U-23 Ireland team, that made history by winning a Nations League event for the first time.

And now, Finn has moved her life to Dublin, for her Masters studies and making the next steps with Trinity Meteors. It has been a busy time recently:

“Moving up to Dublin and new car, new team, new courses, new city as well. I moved up here a few weeks ago and it was a struggle not to move up maybe the first few days. It's a completely new lifestyle. But it's been great and I'm glad I took this route and the girls are lovely here.”

Laying out her motivation for the transfer, Finn admits, she always had Trinity College on her mind for the Masters for teaching and just applied for it. She got the offer and is 'delighted' to go on this new adventure for herself now.

Hazel is following into her sister's footsteps at Trinity, as Dayne was there as well: “She always spoke really well about the set up of basketball and the facilities and everything. And she played with some of the girls I'm playing with now,” Hazel points out.

Integrating into the new set-up in Dublin is also helped by the fact, the Hazel is coached by her former U-16 assistant coach on the Irish team.

“It is professional basketball, they have great facilities here for us, they get us involved in everything, things such as you being on scholarship, they try and get you in photoshoots and just get you in with different events. It's fun.”