Nine Regional Academy head coaching positions have been appointed this week by Basketball Ireland’s Coaching and Player Standards Unit (CPSU) and Elite Performance Committee (EPC).
In the north, Andy Gill has been appointed as head coach of the North Regional Academy, with the Niall McDermott taking the reins in the North West. In the south meanwhile, Paudie Fleming has been appointed as the head coach of the South Regional Academy, with Lawrence Summers announced as head coach of the South East Academy.
In the midlands, Vincent O’Keeffe will be head coach for the boys’ academy, with Martin McGettrick running the girls academy. In the east meanwhile, Paul Cummins has been appointed head coach for the region, while in the west, Gerald Lyons has been appointed head coach for the boys with Michael Hickey announced as head coach for the girls.
“The CPSU and EPC are delighted to welcome these coaches on board as our Regional Head Coaches,” stated a CPSU spokesperson. “We are delighted with the high level of interest in these roles and are confident that our appointments will lead each Academy with great enthusiasm and skill. The process of appointing academy staff coaches is ongoing.”
The coaches will begin their roles this weekend at the Inter-Regional tournament.
What are the new Regional Academies? The EPC announced some major changes to the programme for international teams, one of which was the removal of the Under 15 and Under 17 development teams from the international platform for Ireland.
These changes impact the Under 15 teams from this season (2017/18) while they will be implemented at Under 17 level from next season (2018/19). The goal of the regional academies is to produce more international standard basketball players by giving more of our young talented players the opportunity to train with the best players in the region with a set curriculum aimed at an international style of play.
The aim would be to increase the current number of players involved in the development squads from 36 to well over 100 players country-wide who could potentially be international players at under 16 level or in the future. The role of the academies is to reduce the risk of missing potential internationals who haven’t been exposed to this level before, who are still developing or who are new to the sport. You can read more about it here.
The full list of appointments:
North – Andy Gill
North West – Niall McDermott
South – Paudie Fleming
South East – Lawrence Summers
East - Paul Cummins
Midlands Boys - Vincent O'Keefe
Midlands Girls - Martin McGettrick
West Boys - Gerald Lyons
West Girls - Michael Hickey
