North Star Basketball resurrected at the Foyle Arena

In sport, everyone loves a comeback story, and North Star Warriors are writing one of their own at Foyle Arena after too long without basketball in the city.

For years, Niall McDermott and co brought North Star basketball into the limelight and even competed on the National stage, but life, responsibilities and covid all combined to take a once thriving sport in the town and put it on the shelf.

But that has all changed now, and quickly, with the new North Star Warriors team resurrecting the game in Derry. Chairman Colm O’Neill has played basketball for over 30 years, and he alongside a number of ex-players have assembled to grow a sport they have come to love, and a sport they know there is an appetite for locally.

The Warriors have been going for just six weeks so far, but their instincts have been spot on, with boys and girls of all ages signing up. Numbers are growing week on week, and there is room for everyone.

Basketball is back in Derry.

“There was an original North Star club founded maybe 20 years ago, but just through different reasons, it fell away a wee bit,” Colm explained. “So now we have just come together, a lot of ex-players and relaunched the new North Star Warriors, which is really a new club but still has the old essence of North Star. We’re founded now about six weeks. We are really focusing on underage basketball but we still have a men’s team and an U18 team and we’re catering for boys and girls from U10 right up to senior. It’s going well so far.”

Taking place on Saturdays and Sundays, from U10 right up to senior, North Star Warriors are providing opportunities for no0t only something new, but something extra for those who love sport, but find options limited, particularly in the cold and dark winter months ahead of us. The only show in town when it comes to basketball, North Star Warriors is the place to be.  

“This gives kids something different,” Colm continued. “There seems to be a mad appetite for it, we’re only going six weeks and I would say we have between 150-180 kids registered already from all age groups.

“We need more, particularly females. It’s just trying to get them going because once they come and try it, they love it. We are happy to take on all new members, boys and girls, but we have a particular focus on girls from U10, U12, U14 right up. It doesn’t matter what level; we cater for all levels from beginner, so you don’t have to worry if you’ve never played basketball. This is just a start to try and launch the club. We have a long-term plan, but we just have to take small steps first.”

Aspirations

At the minute, the club is just taking small steps as it builds itself up once again, but down the line there are some big plans.

“Our aspirations would be to eventually have a National League Super League team in Derry,” Colm revealed. “It’s never happened; we’ve had Premier League teams and Ulster League teams, but the Super League is a massive league down the country. A lot of GAA players, like Ciaran Donaghey, the famous Kerry player, plays basketball, so the ideal scenario would be to have a Super League team, but that’s a long way off. The shorter term is about developing opportunities for the kids, both boys and girls and to build competitive teams at U12, U14, U16 and U18, female, male and senior.”

A big part of those aspirations is North Star’s Men’s’ team, which begins its league on Friday, October 28 in the Foyle Arena. The U18s will also start their league games every Saturday. It will be a welcome return to competitive basketball locally.  

If you’re still uncertain, take it from someone who went along very much as a beginner, but still loves it 30 years later.

“I’ve always loved basketball,” Colm added. “I don’t know why I took it up, I just took it up out of the blue. I never thought I would have liked it when I was 12 or 13, and you find that with a lot of the kids, because they don’t know what it is really. There is definitely ore awareness about basketball now than when I was younger because of the likes o0f Lebron and the NBA, which ha gotten a lot bigger.

“Most kids love it. You’ll find a big transfer with gaelic football; a lot of GAA players would play basketball in the winter, because there’s a lot of transferrable skills such as ball-handling and defence skills. A lot of county-level gaelic footballers play basketball, and play it at a high level, so that’s a shout-out to the gaelic clubs in the town, who take breaks at this time of the year. Come along, it doesn’t interfere, if anything, it will assist it.”

Keep up to date

Training takes place every weekend, rain, hail or shine, and for those who are thinking of giving it a go, you’ll find only encouragement and positivity.

“If anyone is keen and interested, the best thing to do is keep an eye on the North Star Facebook page,” Colm explained. “You can register your child on there, but you can also come along if you prefer and we’ll sort it out. The Foyle Arena is a great facility for us; it’s handy, it has great facilities and there is a good level of coaching here. We can separate for all levels, so if you’re a beginner and you’ve never touched it, don’t worry. The general feedback from most of the parents so far has been very positive. The kids are loving it. Once they come, they want to keep coming back. Everybody is more than welcome, no matter what level.”

North Star Warriors Training Times

Saturdays

10am-11am        U10 Boys

11am-12pm        U12 Boys

12pm-1pm          U14 Boys

1pm-2pm            U16 Boys

2pm-3pm            U18 Boys

2pm-3pm            U14/U16 Girls

Sundays

10am-11:30am  U10/U12 Girls

Training will cost £4 per person per session. All new players are welcome. Please register online on Facebook beforehand.