Basketball is an extremely popular sport in the Community of Bantry and in Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí. The school sport is Governed by Basketball Ireland and it has 4 grades from A being the top Grade to D being the lowest, where we started with both male and female teams in 2011. There are four age grades in Irish Schools Basketball. They are 1^st Year, 2^nd Year, Under 16 and Under 19. A school can enter multiple teams at each age group. In every school, the top teams at each age group must all play at the same grade. The second teams can play at any lower grade. Once you reach a national Final your school must move up a grade for that gender. Hence, currently, our top Girls and Boys teams both play in the highest grade of Irish Basketball which is the “A” grade. All of our second teams play in the “B” grade. Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí play in the Basketball Ireland South League which consists of all Cork schools. In order to qualify for the All-Ireland playoffs each year a team must reach the South Final. Selected teams also enter the National Cup each Year which is an open competition at each age group in each grade for the whole country.

Training Schedule 2024/25

Age/Grade: First Year Boys ‘A’ Basketball

Venue: PE Hall

Day: Tuesdays and Fridays

Time: 5pm to 6pm on Tuesday, 3.30pm to 5pm on Friday

Teacher: Mr Pat Curran

Age/Grade: First Year Boys ‘B’ Basketball (Starts after Christmas)

Venue: PE Hall

Day: Tuesday

Time: 4pm to 5pm

Teacher: Ms Aoife Crowne

Age/Grade: 2nd Year Boys ‘A’ Basketball (Starts after Christmas)

Venue: PE Hall

Day: Wednesday

Time: 4pm to 5pm

Teacher: Ms Aoife Crowne

Age/Grade: U16 Boys ‘A’ Basketball

Venue: PE Hall

Day: Wednesdays

Time: 4pm to 5pm

Teacher: Ms Aoife Crowne

Age/Grade: U16 Boys ‘C’ Basketball

Venue: PE Hall

Day: Mondays

Time: 4pm to 5pm

Teacher: Ms Aoife Crowne

Age/Grade: U19 A Boys ‘A’ Basketball

Venue: PE Hall

Day: Tuesdays and Thursdays

Time: 4pm to 5pm on Tuesdays, 4pm to 5.30pm on Thursdays

Teacher: Mr Pat Curran

Age/Grade: U19 A Boys ‘B’ Basketball

Venue: PE Hall

Day: Mondays

Time: 4pm to 5pm

Teacher: Mr Pat Curran. Team coached by student, Charlie Curran under supervision.

Age/Grade: U19 A Boys ‘C’ Basketball

Venue: PE Hall

Day: Tuesdays and Thursdays

Time: 4pm to 5pm on Tuesdays, 4pm to 5.30pm on Thursdays

Teacher: Mr Pat Curran

Age/Grade: U19 & U16 Girls Basketball (before Christmas)

Venue: PE Hall

Day: Tuesdays and Thursdays

Time: 1.15 – 1.45 pm

Teacher: Ms Frances Lane

Age/Grade: 1st & 2nd Year Girls Basketball (after Christmas)

Venue: PE Hall

Day: Tuesdays and Thursdays

Time: 1.15 – 1.45 pm

Teacher: Ms Frances Lane & Ms Mairéad Dineen

Age/Grade: Wheelchair Basketball

Venue: PE Hall

Day: Fridays

Time: 1.15pm to 2.15pm

Teacher: Mr Pat Curran, Mr Trevor Hogan, Mr Ivan Kingston, Ms Annie O’ Donovan, Ms Elise Shannon

Basketball

The Season Structure:

The Season is generally split in two. U16 and U19 before Christmas, 1^st and 2^nd Year after Christmas.

U16 and under 19 regional championships are played before Christmas. The season ends for your team if you don’t make the regional finals in December. If your team make the regional finals you are automatically entered into the All-Ireland School playoffs which take place after Christmas and if you win these you are sent forward for the All-Ireland league quarter, semi and final depending on your teams success. The competition is held in the National Arena from the quarter final stages onwards.

The Under 16 and Under 19 National Cup rounds up to the semi finals take place before Christmas and the Final is played in January.

The 1^st and 2^nd Year season starts in January and can run until May depending on the success of teams involved.

History:

When we opened our doors in 2011 it was the first time that a full size basketball court was available to the community of Bantry. We entered VEC competitions at the D grade in both Boys and Girls competitions for the first two years and quickly became promoted to the C Grade when we began to enter the Basketball Ireland Post Primary Schools Competitions.

In 2015 one of the all time great games took place in Coláiste Pobail when Ms Lane’s Under 19 Girls team beat Drogheda in the All_Ireland playoffs with a Nancy Hegarty Buzzer beater to bring the school to the National Arena for the first time to an Al- Ireland Semi-Final and then a final. The team lost the final in a tight game but were nevertheless promoted to the B Grade where they competed and won the South section at a number of age groups until reaching another All-Ireland Final in 2019 in the first year category and unfortunately losing out in the final. The girls now play at the A grade by virtue of those All-Ireland Final appearances. In 2022 Clodagh Downey of Third Year became the first Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí basketball player to be named in an Irish underage Basketball Squad.

The Boys also started out in the VEC D Grade coached by Mr Curran and Mr Gahan and opted to play in the Basketball Ireland C Grade from 2013 onwards. After a number of South Region Championship wins at all four age groups our under 19 Boys finally reached an All-Ireland Final in 2018 in which they earned the title of All-Ireland Champions under the Guidance of Mr Curran. Since then they have won B Championships at all four age groups but the elusive All-Ireland title at the B grade has escaped them. In January 2023 both the U16 and U19 Boys teams had agonising defeats in the National Cup finals in Tallaght. However by virtue of their appearance in the finals, the school is now prmoted to ‘A@, the highest grade in Irish Schools Basketball.

Wheelchair Basketball

In 2022 the Basketball department at Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí looked at ways of making the sport more inclusive. We entered teams in the IWA Schools championships for the first time. In March 2023, led by Rebel Wheeler Oisín O’ Connor, Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí became the Munster Schools Wheelchair Champions by beating St Brendans of Killarney in the final.

In February 2023, School Coach and teacher Mr Pat Curran was a guest on the Southern Star Sports podcast and during the conversation he mentioned that the school was trying to develop Wheelchair basketball in the school and that he had secure €8k funding from West Cork Development towards a total of €24k that was needed to purchase ten basketball wheelchairs. The day after the podcast was aired the school recieved a phonecall from a donor who put up the balance of the €24k needed. The basketball wheelchairs were delivered in September 2023.

Roll of Honour Boys

2022/2023 Academic Year

National Cup Under 16 B Runners Up

National Cup Under 19 B Runners Up

2nd Year South B League Champions

2021/2022 Academic Year

U16B South Boys Champions

U19B South Boys Runners Up

2^nd Year B South Boys B Runners Up

1^st Year B South Boys B Runners Up

2020/2021 Academic Year

No Competitions Due to Covid restrictions