Braves are excited by challenge of season to come

The excitement in North Mayo is not just building on the football pitches but on the basketball court also as Merry Monk Ballina look to build on their recent success.

Last season saw the club return to the National Basketball Arena where they claimed national silverware for the first time in decade, defeating Cavan Eagles to win the Basketball Ireland Development League (BIDL) Plate Final, an eleventh national title for the club.

Defeat to Tralee Warriors in the final game of the league phase meant they missed out on the cup final but a return to Tallaght has done wonders for the team’s confidence ahead of the new season.

With no plate competition this season, Merry Monk Ballina will now be aiming to reach the cup final on this occasion.

“To get up to Tallaght was great,” coach Derek Cunningham told the Western People this week. “It boosted the lads’ confidence and we proved that we are making gains and are moving forward. You don't want to have one or two seasons in a row where the same thing happens because then you're scratching your head like, ‘are we doing the right things?’ But I think that kind of cemented that we are doing more positive things than negative things. It was a great experience for the lads.” 

The club will be busy this season. On the senior front, the club – officially known as Ballina Braves – are in four competitions this year: national Under 18, national Under 20, LLR and BIDL. The club is expecting to do well with the Under 20s since they reached the semi-finals last season and all of the team is still eligible to play, “which is unique enough,” adds Cunningham. They are expecting to add a few players too.

“We did very well, we got to a semi-final of the plate. We won seven out of nine games. Our Achilles, and it was in the two games we lost, was that we just didn't have much on the bench, our squad was too small.

“We've addressed that over the off season, we brought in another two or three players not just from our own club but a couple lads around the county. They've been practicing and training all summer. We've had a couple of very good sessions so far and we have like a solid eleven to twelve players there.” 

On the decision to re-enter a team in the LLR, Cunningham said: “There are lads there who are on the Under 20 squad and they're old enough to play in the BIDL, but they mightn't get that many minutes. The club decided that we're going into the LLR and those lads will get plenty of minutes and experience playing in that. That proved a great decision when we started up three years ago. The lads learned a lot about playing senior basketball.” 

This year, Ballina Braves has seen over 100 new members join the club. These numbers have been consistent since coming out of Covid. The club have been very fortunate to have the amount of coaches, including both experienced basketball coaches and parents who are learning to help out, as well as Merry Monk coming on board as club sponsor. The Braves are very thankful to Joe Lavelle and all at Merry Monk for their support.

The growth in such a short space of time has brought its own challenges but Derek Cunningham said the club is thankful to not just the Ballina Community Centre, but all the volunteers who have stepped up.

“It does present its own challenges in terms of getting more like volunteers and coaches. Probably the biggest challenge is getting gym time because we play out of the community centre and that's a facility for the whole community. There's only so many hours we can get but we're very lucky.” 

The long-term goal for the club is to move up to National League Division One and it’s a big reason they’ve re-entered the LLR – to create pathways for the young players and prepare for the challenging transition of playing at a local level to national – but the club working towards that goal.

“If Division 2 came about next year, that'd be a national league. It'd be similar in the structure to Division One and Super League.

“The opportunity is there, and we want to move forward and move up. For me, I think getting to Division 1 would be a massive achievement,” said Cunningham.

Merry Monk’s season gets underway this Sunday with the Under 20s in league action against Athlone on October 5 at 2pm in the Ballina Sports Complex, followed by an Under 20 Cup game away to St Vincent’s (Killester) a week later.

The BIDL League begins on Saturday, October 18, away to Atlantic Eagles, with a first home fixture on Saturday, November 1 against Clare Crusaders at 6pm. LLR fixtures will be confirmed in due course.

To purchase a season ticket, contact the club’s social media.