TRALEE Imperials BC took over the hall in Mercy Mounthawk on Saturday and did a marathon 12 hours of basketball raising funds for club and the Kerry Hospice Foundation.

Starting at 9am with the enthusiasm of the young academy members evident, each age group took to the floor filling an hour throughout the day with basketball fun and games.

This provided great opportunities for players from different teams to play together and the u16s provided some great entertainment with what became a very competitive game between the boys and the girls.

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There was an excellent festive atmosphere with Christmas music filling the hall, with some people doing more karaoke or thinking they were on Dancing with the Stars rather than doing basketball!

One person who left his dancing shoes at home was Dancing with the Stars reigning champion and Kerry GAA legend Aidan O’Mahony.

He joined in with the main VIP, Santa Claus, who took a break from the North Pole to pop in to meet the boys and girls and he even showed off his own basketball skills.

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors Darragh, Goran and Trae also took part in the fundraising day, while downstairs the basketball was the main focus, upstairs was buzzing with wonderful baking and lucky bags for sale. People also had the opportunity to purchase the club gear.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable day that could not have happened without all the volunteers, bakers, coaches, team managers and players.

Thank you to everyone who gave money and to Mercy Mounthawk who sponsored the hall and Kingdom Printers who sponsored the sponsorship cards.