Kieran Donaghy and coach Vinny Murphy with kids taking part in the ‘Be A Star Dominos Basketball Camp’ at the John Mitchels GAA Camp in Ballyseedy on Thursday. Photo by Dermot Crean
KIERAN Donaghy was keeping himself on his toes ahead of Sunday’s County Final this week, as he trained young basketballers in the John Mitchels GAA Complex.
Over 150 teenagers from all over town and beyond attended his ‘Be A Star Dominos Basketball Camp’, as Kieran explained to TraleeToday.ie when we called up to the Ballyseedy venue.
“It’s a camp I run every year during the Halloween mid-term break. We actually flew a coach over here from the US, James Mooney from New York, the all-time leading scorer for his college, Mount St Vincent’s. He’s the shooter in our shooting clinic,” said Kieran.
“We have around 150 kids here, double the amount we had last year and we’re hoping for more next year,” said he former Tralee Tigers man who said the camp was booked out weeks in advance.
“It gets them out of the house to learn basketball and gets them into a fun game with a great team environment,” he said. Kieran had a number of coaches working with him, including his old Tralee Tigers and Kerry team-mate, Micheál Quirke.
Tralee Tigers won three Superleague titles in the Noughties (2001-2002, 2003-2004 and 2007-2008). Could the glory days of basketball in Tralee come back again?
“Basketball is coming back and the more we put into the youth, maybe we can get men’s premier league back here in a few years. What gave me the idea for the camp was everybody was saying they missed the Tigers games on a Saturday night, that there’s no men’s basketball at senior level and there’s nothing to do during the holidays. It’s been a great success and we’re having great fun doing it,” said Kieran.
Watch some of the kids displaying their lay-up talents with Kieran in the video below and scroll down for photos…
Kieran Donaghy and coach Micheál Quirke with kids taking part in the ‘Be A Star Dominos Basketball Camp’ at the John Mitchels GAA Camp in Ballyseedy on Thursday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Kieran Donaghy and coach Gary Murphy with kids taking part in the ‘Be A Star Dominos Basketball Camp’ at the John Mitchels GAA Camp in Ballyseedy on Thursday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Kieran Donaghy and coach Aisling O’Mahony with kids taking part in the ‘Be A Star Dominos Basketball Camp’ at the John Mitchels GAA Camp in Ballyseedy on Thursday. The kids are wearing special goggles to improve their dribbling skills as they prevent them from looking down. Photo by Dermot Crean
Kieran Donaghy and coach Cillian Fitzgerald (front right) with kids taking part in the ‘Be A Star Dominos Basketball Camp’ at the John Mitchels GAA Camp in Ballyseedy on Thursday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Kieran Donaghy and coach John Teahan with kids taking part in the ‘Be A Star Dominos Basketball Camp’ at the John Mitchels GAA Camp in Ballyseedy on Thursday. Photo by Dermot Crean
