UCD Marian News

New to the website this year is the members blog section.This will be regularly updated with information from players and coaches from within the club.

26/11/09 Conor Meany

Its been a month since Paddy set us off so I think its about time a new blog entry came in. As most of you know I play superleague as well as coaching the under 17s and doing other bits and pieces as the development officer. Rather than give a club update which is coming out in the next few days in the newsletter I'm only going to write about the two teams I'm involved in.

Firstly superleague.We've had a rough enough start to the year and find ourselves at 2-5 at the moment. We're trying to get a bit of consistency but we're sturggling at the moment. Winning one week against Killester only to lose to Moycullen the following week is incredibly frustrating for all of us invovled in the team as well as those of you who follow the team closely. Still despite the start we know that we can ultimately be a very good team by the end of the year and we just need to win enough games to get back to the playoffs. We've a free weekend to end November although some of us are off to Limerick with the freshers.It will be stange enough coaching Cathal and Mike two of my teammates but it should be fun. Its also a great opportunity for the two of them to have fun and play carefree basketball. Speaking of the two both have done an excellent job over the last few weeks especially in the win over Hoops. Cathal came in and gave us such a defensive lift when we needed it and Mike came and shot the lights out in his debut, we were all delighted for Michael in particular because it was his first opportunity on court and he made the difference in the game.

My 17s got their first ever win during the last month over a good Killester team in St. Fintans. Unfortunately the first win came while I was playing a game in UCD so I cant take much credit for it. I have been delighted with the guys though for the last few months. We came together at the end of last year abd started training and to enter the u17 league without having played a game before was a tough ask. That being said however we have huge potential to improve and I definitely have high hopes going forward into next year. Only 2 of the players are in the right age group so for new guys to come in and play their first club matches ina  league a year above their own age and be competitive is remarkable. I strongly believe we have two of the best players in the country in Irvin Gamede and Paul Cruz who are both getting better by the week and the development of players like Dylan Kennedy in particular has been amazing.

Before I sign off on this post I just want to further spread the word about the cup game on the 5th of December. The game tips off at 7pm and we're having the Christmas party after the game so hopefully we get a big turn out by club members and geta  great atmosphere. If anyone wants info about the game the party or anything else about the day contact myself or Paddy Young.

Hope to see you all on Saturday!

Conor

15/10/09 Paddy Young

So the new season has got underway and there have been changes with almost every team in the club. I have taken over the u14s this year from Eddie Barron and a few new players have joined to help out the team. The 17 players on the team have been working hard training every week in Marian College and St. Michael's and they got off to a fantastic start in the league by beating Killester 63-30 in St. Fintans last week. The team is in the U14B league this year and they have got off on the right foot for promotion. The dublin cup draw was made last week and the team have an away game against Eanna in December in what should be more of a challenge for the lads.
I have also joined the coaching staff for the u20s this year as Niall Meany's "Graduate Assistant",  as the team looks to repeat the success of last years team. Four of the stars of last years national cup winning side return in Dan and Conor James, Kunle Oyataru and u18 star Peter Herron to form the core of this years team and they have been boosted by Andy Healy and Barry O'Connor making the switch from Templeogue as well as Superleague rookie Cathal Finn's decision to follow his brother Peter from Galway to UCD. The team have their first game this Saturday at home to St.Vincent's who they will also meet in the first round of the National Cup on 15th November.
Ciaran Dunne has taken over as the Division 2 coach from Gerry Barron and after a messy pre-season with a lack of numbers the team managed to pull itself together as we picked up Shane Egan and Stephen Cooper from last years U20 side as well as Dave Guilmartin who joined us from St.Vincent's D1 team and we went on to record a great 2 point win over D1 side Clondalkin Lions as Martin Fox hit the game winner on the buzzer. Since then the team went on to beat Killester at home before injuries and work commitments started to affect the side as they lost their last 2 games to Team Lithuania and St. Declan's. The team is lookin to get the season back on track with a trip to Naas tomorrow night.
Finally, the Superleague team have their first home game this Sunday afternoon and we are trying to organise a loud section for the game as some of the funniest moments from last season came from the collection of messes we arranged during the home games. We are hopin to add a few people to this section this season and we will be meeting in the Forum Bar a few hours before tip off for most home games this season, I hope to see a lot of people in the Forum Bar this Sunday at 12.30.
Paddy Young