Five Portlaoise Panthers Selected In Ireland U-20 Squad

Friday, 28 May 2021 13:22

It's great recognition for work being done at the club with youth players.

Portlaoise Panthers have had five players named on the Ireland U-20 Women's Basketball squad for the FIBA European Challenge 2021.

Jasmine Burke, Ciara Byrne, Shauna Dooley and Sarah Fleming and Lisa Blaney all take their place in Martin Conroy's 18-man roster.

The FIBA European Challenge 2021 replaces the Youth European Championships, which were cancelled by FIBA earlier this month

Ireland’s U20 women are competing in the ‘A’ division having securing promotion after winning a bronze medal at the 2019 FIBA U20 European ‘B’ Championship in Pristina, Kosovo.

The U20 women returned to training last weekend, after being given the green light to do so by Sport Ireland.

Speaking about his squad, head coach Martin Conroy said:

“We’ve been away from the game for a long time, but these young women were fantastic at our three Talent ID sessions and gave our staff a lot of difficult decisions to make. Our coaching staff talked it through, and we have selected these final 18 players. There are some incredibly talented players that have missed out, but that’s what we expected at this level. It’s going to be a very fast turnaround, with just six to seven weeks to prepare, but we’re here to make sure that we put in maximum effort, so that we will be ready for the European Challenge tournament.”

Chair of the EPC, Tim Rice, said:

“While not having Youth European Championships is disappointing for all, the opportunity for these four teams to test their mettle on the international stage in the European Challenge tournaments this summer is a big win for Irish basketball. Our players, parents, coaches, and team management should be commended for continuing to strive, persevere and never give up.”

IRELAND U20 WOMEN’S SQUAD IN FULL:

First Name	Surname	D.O.B.	Age	Height	School	Club	Position	Previously Capped at
Lisa	Blaney	02/05/2002	19	5’10		Portlaoise Panthers	Guard	U16, U17
Jasmine	Burke	02/03/2002	19	6’1	Scoil Criost Ri	Portlaoise Panthers	Centre	U17
Ciara	Byrne	26/07/2002	18	5'8	Scoil Criost Ri	Portlaoise Panthers	Centre	U16, U18
Ava	Coogan	17/09/2002	18	5'8	Loretto Secondary School	IT Carlow Basketball	Point Guard	U17
Lauren	Darcy	01/06/2001	19	5'3		Templeogue BC	Point Guard	U15, U16, U17, U18
Shauna	Dooley	17/02/2002	19	5'11	Scoil Criost Ri	Portlaoise Panthers	Guard/Forward	U16, U17
Sarah	Fleming	06/02/2002	19	5'10	Scoil Criost Ri	Portlaoise Panthers	Guard	U17
Mia	Furlong	21/12/2001	19	5'11		UCC Glanmire	Guard	U15, U16, U17, U18
Katie	Hickey	15/10/2002	18	5'11	Mercy Waterford	Waterford Wildcats	Guard/Forward	U16, U17
Niamh	Kenny	28/04/2001	20	5'8		Trinity Meteors	Forward	U15, U16, U17, U18
Erin	Maguire	16/12/2002	18		St. Genevieve’s HS	Ulster University Tigers	Guard	U16, U17, U18
Molly	Moffitt	02/03/2003	17	6'1	Seattle Prep		Guard/Forward	*
Ciara	Mulleady	11/03/2002	19	6’1	Tallahassee Community College		Forward	U15, U16, U17
Eve	Nealon	25/06/2001	19	5'8	Shippensberg University		Guard	U18
Siofra	O’Shea	10/01/2002	19	5'8		St. Mary’s Castleisland	Guard	U15, U16, U18
Abigail	Rafferty	18/05/2002	19	6'0		Ulster University Tigers	Centre	U15, U16, U18
Laura	Stapleton	10/12/2001	19	5'8		Limerick Celtics	Guard	U17
Katie	Williamson	11/05/2001	20	6'1	Southern Connecticut State University		Centre	U15, U16, U18

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