Plenty of changes as Galway teams set for new campaign

THE national basketball season gets underway this weekend, with five Galway teams in action across the four different divisions, including the returning city-based Titans after a one-year hiatus.

As with all sports, there are a lot of changes on the basketball front, not only in terms of personnel, but also due to Covid-19, with the most obvious one being the fact that all five teams have moved from their most recent home venue for the new season.

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Maree BC

Maree have a new squad, a new home venue, a new head coach – and a new name, after a partnership with NUIG will see the side play under the name NUIG Maree.

The partnership also sees Maree move from its traditional base of Calasanctius College to the Kingfisher Gym in NUIG, but the side needed to find a new venue anyway after the sports hall at Calasanctius College was taken out of use as a sporting facility by the school’s authorities.

On the coaching front, Charlie Crowley makes the step-up from the playing side of things to take on the role of head coach, where he is joined on the coaching ticket by former team-mate, Colm O’Hagan; while John Finn also continues as an assistant coach, giving the management team crucial experience.

He has added eight new faces to this year’s squad, including the returning Darren Callanan from Dublin Lions; while the link with NUIG sees Kyle Stout join from Lafayette College on the Sport Changes Life Scholar programme. Darin Johnson (US) and Oriol Balsalls Plaza (Spain) are gone from last year’s squad.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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