THERE must be something in the water in Coolock as DCU Mercy Basketball Club have gone on an outstanding run, picking up five Dublin and National Cups since the end of January.
The modest club of 28 years, which sees girls join up as young as the age of four, right up to Super League level, has been punching above its weight with glory coming at U-17, U-18 and U-20 levels over a short period.
The U-18s came out on top of their National Cup group in a preliminary round in Cork in late January before disposing of Glanmire in the final, with Bronagh Power-Cassidy awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP).
The U-20s had home advantage in their National Cup preliminaries and faced local rivals Killester, defeating them in the final with Nicole Clancy taking the top individual prize.
On the weekend of March 4 and 5, DCU Mercy had three teams in the Dublin Cup finals held in the Oblate Hall, Inchicore, and run by the Dublin Ladies Basketball Board (DLBB).
The Under 18 team beat Oblate Dynamoes, the U-17s defeated Templeogue and the U-20s beat Meteors, taking three cups back to the Northside.
Annette Ingle, co-founder of DCU Mercy with her husband Mark, said the success is not a fluke. Instead, it is down to the determination and commitment of the players and coaches.
“I must say the girls are very hard working,” Annette told Northside People.
“They have put in a lot of time and effort over the years.
Many of them started when they were four, five and six-years-old, some of them have transferred from one or two clubs at about 14, but generally it is down to the time they put in and also the coaches involved.
“The coaches give up their time voluntarily and they put in a lot of hard work with the girls.
“I would also love for the wins to get publicity for the kids because they put in so much effort. It is the publicity they deserve. It would be nice for them to see a little bit about themselves.”
Annette is delighted about the success she and others have helped bring to the tight-knit community of Coolock and hopes the game’s profile will start to grow in the area.
“This is super for the area,” she said. “We are a very small club. We started about 28 years ago. It was both Mark and my own idea after a couple of kids came to us as we were both playing basketball at the time. They asked would we start playing with them and basically it went from there and we just built it up.
“We would like to think that our success would attract a bit of attention, especially for the sport because it is a minority sport.
“We are competing with Parnell’s across the road and a lot of GAA clubs around, as well as the other big sports, sports that would have a lot of financial aid.
“We are self-funded through a lot of voluntary work and I’d like to thank those who have given us a hand over the years.”
If you are interested in joining the club, contact Annette on 086-3748148 or email aingle4@gmail.
REPORT: Brein McGinn