Review of the Year 2019

JANUARY

Our Academy returned to Mounthawk after the Christmas break.

u14 boys and girls got the calendar year off to winning starts.

Imperials players were in action for both sides in the extremely competitive u19A school boys cup semifinal. Mercy Mounthawk took the win against CBS The Green after overtime in front of a packed out Sports Complex.

Academy players wished their coaches Zygi and Dáire the best of luck in their Schools Cup final. Our older players are great role models for the younger members of the club and often help out coaching teams. Unfortunately Mounthawk lost out to AG of Cork.

Imperials players are also involved in the u19 girls squad competing for Mounthawk in the league playoffs.

u20 men continue to take part in the Cork league.

u17 girls beat Glenbeigh to qualify for the KABB cup final.

National Cup fever builds in Tralee with Basketball Ireland streaming Time Out live from The Castle Bar previewing the semi finals - Warriors lost out to Killester Who eventually went on to win the Cup.

u12 boys team 2 hard work over the last few months finally paid off when they got their first win of the season.

This month saw many Imperials players representing their local area in the Kerry Community Games.

u14 girls qualified for the KABB plate finals.

FEBRUARY

We hosted the KABB U10s blitz in Tralee Sports Complex.

KABB finals took place this month.

u13 girls won the cup 36-20 vs St. Anne’s. Garvey’s Tralee Warrior Kendall Williams was on hand to present the girls with their trophy.

u17 girls were also cup champions with a 48-31 win over Gneeveguill.

u14 girls lost out to TK cobras in the div 3 plate final.

Our u12 boys had some great performances to reach the semi final in the Billy Coffey tournament in Cork.

Dáire Kennelly received an award at the Kerry Sports Stars Awards ceremony.

Imperials players were part of the All Ireland u15 school boys cup winning team for Mounthawk.

Kerry u14 girls beat Dublin in Dublin this month.

MARCH

U10s in action in Moyderwell at another KABB blitz.

Tralee is going basketball crazy. With the attendance so high at the Warriors games the games now become all ticketed events.

Div 3 Ladies get a win in their final home game of the season.

As part of International Women’s Day U12 girls played at halftime of a Warriors game.

u13 boys lost the final of the St. Anne’s blitz by a basket in overtime.

u12 girls Div 3 had a nice treat after their game vs Ballybunion Wildcats - hot chocolate!

The Superleague came to a nail-biting end. After an overtime 89-84 win away to UCD, Garvey’s Tralee Warriors clinched their first ever Superleague title with a 88-73 win at home vs UCD in front of a sell out crowd.

Pat Price won Superleague coach of the month.

Warriors lost out to Belfast Star in the Champions Trophy semi final.

APRIL

We held our annual awards night in the Rose Hotel. Warriors ‘Skinny’ Darragh O’Hanlon, Eoin Quigley and Dáire Kennelly brought along the Superleague trophy and gave out the awards on the night.

Boys MVP & MIP recipients

Girls MVP & MIP recipients

Kerry Awards

Ireland Awards

We also made a presentation on the night to the Kerry Hospice Foundation with a cheque from the money raised at out 2017 Christmas Basketball Marathon.

There was a civic reception for the Superleague winners, Garvey’s Tralee Warriors.

u13 girls were presented with their cup medals at the KABB awards night.

U17 Kerry Boys were in action in UL.

u18 Irish team jetted off to Cherbourg, France for international friendly games.

MAY

A Tralee Imperials boys team travel to Cork take on a team from USA as part of the American sides tour of Ireland.

Leeroy Odiahi and Dáire Kennelly are named on the u18 Ireland Men’s team that will travel to the FIBA European Championships in Romania during the summer. Warriors teammate Rap is also named on the team. Thank you to all those who helped with the fundraising for the trip.

U16 Kerry girls get a win over Dublin.

School boys from all around Tralee take part in the annual Mounthawk Primary School Blitz.

JUNE

Senior Academy coach Leanne was fantastic at the Kerry Rose Selection.

Garvey’s Tralee Warriors announce new player, Daniel Jokubaitis. Daniel is also the new Tralee Imperials Senior Men’s coach for the upcoming season.

Ryan Leonard is part of the team that represents Ireland at the FIBA 3x3 European Cup qualifiers in Romania.

JULY

Ireland U18 Men take on Garvey’s Tralee Warriors as part of their training weekend in Tralee.

The team run coaching and skills sessions and also take a break from their busy schedule to visit Sandy Feet Farm.

The Irish team go on to win the Dussman Tournament in Luxembourg.

They play three games in Dublin vs Norway before flying out to Romania for the European Championships.

AUGUST

Ireland U18 Men finish 16th in the FIBA U18 European Championships.

Trials get underway for the new season.

We launched our brand new look Academy. Kerry Sports Academy at the ITT North Campus is announced as the new venue. Jimmy Diggins, John Dowling and Youth and Coaching Development Officer Darragh O’Hanlon will be leading the sessions. Sandy Feet Farm kindly sponsor the Academy this year.

SEPTEMBER

Our Academy gets underway in our new venue with lots of new members.

Skinny and his fellow Warriors are busy going around primary schools letting all the boys and girls know about the new Academy.

Clodagh Murray gets Defender of the Tournament in a preseason U16 Girls tournament hosted by Fr. Matthew’s.

Warriors launch their new season.

U20 Warriors are also launched with lots of Tralee Imperials connections to the team.

OCTOBER

U12 Girls had a great time out at St. Paul’s invitational.

Our Youth and Coaching Development Officer is busy going around to the different teams.

U13 boys had some great performances at a tournament in Cork.

We hosted u12, u14 and u16 boys teams from Demons in the Kerry Sports Academy. All teams then went to the Complex to see U20s Warriors take on u20 Demons in the first of the new U20s National League.