Cork Under 14 team-chat with the coach
We sat down with our Under 14 Coach for this year, Pat Curran as he was in the midst of finalising his team for the Euro Basketball Cup
Pat who played with Bantry at underage level under Christy O’ Neill but as there was men’s set up in Bantry at the time he moved away to soccer and other sports. About fifteen years ago he found his way back into to basketball and from there he has progressed his coaching career from schools and clubto Ireland Under 17’s which was a great experience and in particular his time with the Cork Under 17’s with whom he won an All-Ireland, many of the team are now playing at Super league level or at the college level in the U.S. Pat has also spent many years coaching with the Basketball Ireland academy.
We asked Pat for his thoughts on the Under 13 development squad that the County Board created this year and his involvement with this. He said this squad had a great summer of work and although we might have missed a few players, the recent trials have been good to find a few that slipped through the net and Pat doesn’t think you can say they missed anyone and that the group they are picking is the strongest they can.
On his plans for Spain, both him and assistant coach Jason Barry are concentrating on defensive intensity, as they feel it is biggest factor for any success, from the trials he noticed all are pretty good on offensive, but we tend to turn our back after a score and we that they are intending to change this with ball pressure from the get-go.
When asked was he looking forward to the trip Pat indicated to us that he was definitely looking forward, as he had never been at this competition before, “I was in Lisbon for a school tournament and the standard was brilliant” if it is anything like that he believes it will be an incredible experience to go to a different country and play especially in Spain which he believes is one of the top countries in basketball in Europe. He believes having the lad go out there to experience different players, conditions and gyms will be a good experience for them and if any of them want to advance their career paths this will give them a good idea of how to achieve this.
Finally, we asked Pat what it is like working with his assistant Jason, “Brilliant” he didn’t know him but know his son through his club Blue Demons as they have had many battles with his Bantry team. They have got to know each other well through the Under 13 development squad and are working well and said it was great to have someone with “brilliant game experience that I don’t have”.
As we write all clubs have been notified of the successful players, stay tuned for the squad announcement on our website and social media channels.