Mayo basketball club have applied for new third-tier national league competition
Merry Monk Ballina are hoping to become part of a new third tier national basketball league. The club has applied for a spot and awaits the decision
“The basketball dream is back in Ballina”. That’s a headline from The Mayo News last year. Our columnist Anne-Marie Flynn reflected on the club’s recent Plate win in the Development League, of which the Moysiders have been part since their recreation started after Covid days.
Back in the 1990s, Ballina once stood proudly at the pinnacle of Irish basketball. For example: 1991, when Ballina, as Team Connacht Gold, won the National Senior Basketball Cup, beating Burgerland of Cork in the iconic Neptune stadium.
They repeated this achievement in 1996, playing as Chambourcy Ballina against Star of the Sea , and those days were marked by the legendary home support in Killala Sports Hall.
At the moment, the team is known as Merry Monk Ballina, and they have been rebuilding in the past few years. Especially the creation of a new U-20 team which is participating in national competitions has been crucial in the club’s strategy.
Last season, Ballina even had a full-time director of coaching put in place, to improve work at all age levels.
Now, Merry Monk is planning to take the next step. The club has applied for a spot on a new third-tier competition under the umbrella of Basketball Ireland.
But unlike the Development League, of which Ballina have been part in the last few years, this new third-tier competition would form part of the league pyramid. Teams would have the opportunity to gain promotion to the second-tier league, called Division One.
Obviously this is going to make the basketball location in Ballina even more attractive for players, with the prospect of being part of a team vying for promotion.
Currently, the club is waiting for confirmation from Basketball Ireland. Teams from across the country were given a chance to apply for the new league, and The Mayo News understands, that there is a minimum number of teams, that will have to fulfil the requirements.
As our columnist Anne-Marie Flynn wrote in her article last April, harking back to the 1990s: “To see Ballina, live on RTÉ, winning national titles, was incredible for the town in those days. Times were fairly hard for a small town in the West of Ireland, so to prove that Ballina could stand toe-to-toe with clubs from the big cities was such a huge boost to the town.”
Becoming part of the official league pyramid could be a gamechanger and lead to a renewed basketball boom up in North Mayo. And former players like Deora Marsh or Liam McHale are still showing up at matches. The link to the glory days is still there.
And with exciting talents coming through the ranks via the U-20 team, like Theo Daly, Mark Cunningham, Conor Bourke or others, the conditions might be right to light the fire again.
It all hinges on the decision pending by Basketball Ireland whether enough teams meet the requirements for the new league.