Limerick Lions
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| Limerick Lions | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Leagues | Nivea for Men Superleague | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arena | University Arena | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Limerick | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Team colors | Blue, White, Red | |||||||||||||||||||||
| President | John King | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach | Matt Hall | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Championships | 2002 National Cup Champions | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Uniforms | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Limerick Lions are a basketball club based in Limerick, Ireland. They play in the Basketball Ireland Superleague, Irelands equivalent to Americas NBA. The Limerick Lions play their home matches at the University Arena, considered the best arena in the league, the University Arena can hold a capacity of 1,500 spectators.
As well as the senior team the club also has an underage programme with teams competing on a national level from under 9's right through to under 20's level.
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[edit] History
The Limerick Lions have a short but colourful history. The club was previously known as Limerick Marathon and later BurgerKing Limerick before taking the name Limerick Lions during the 2004/2005 season. The Superleague team has reached the National Cup Finals 3 times and has gotten to the National Cup Finals Weekend (which is broadcast on RTÉ TV) a total of four times. The team were crowned the National Cup Champions in 2002 after being the runners up the year before. Former coach Tom Hehir was named the Nivea for Men Coach of the Month on two occasions between 2005 and 2007. While a number of Limerick Lions players, including Chris Jefferies and Jonathon Stevens, have been named Southern Conference Player of the Month.
[edit] Mascot
Larry the Lion is the mascot of the Limerick Lions. Larry the Lion entertains the fans at home matches while sporting his own custom made Lions jersey. Larry is also known to make appearances across Limerick City, most notably he marches in the city's St. Patrick’s Day parade annually. Larry is introduced before the team and comes running out to his theme song 'Stop the Rock'. He is considered the most entertaining and active mascot in Irish basketball.
During the 2006/2007 season while Larry was throwing free t-shirts into the crowd he accidentally knocked a woman off her chair and onto the ground behind her. The 'T-shirt Throwaway' is a regular feature of Limerick Lions home games, however on this occasion he was throwing a new type of sponsored t-shirt into the crowd, unknowingly it had cardboard backing and when he launched it into the crowd it had enough power to knock her off her chair. Luckily she suffered no injuries and kept the t-shirt for her son.
[edit] Home Arena
The University Arena is an indoor sports arena located on the beautiful sporting campus of the university of Limerick. The Arena is not only home to the Limerick Lions but also to the University of Limericks men and ladies teams (the UL Ladies team plays in the women’s SuperLeague). The arena can hold a capacity of 1,500 fans and was the host (in conjunction with the Limerick Lions) to the Superleague Finals Weekend 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 seasons. Other than hosting top national basketball matches the arena facilities include Irelands first 50 metre pool, 4 basketball courts, the National Strength and Conditioning Centre and a top Cardio-Fitness Centre.
[edit] Team
The Limerick Lions senior men’s basketball team for the 2007-08 season is: Neil Campbell, Stephen King, Robert Lynch, Paul O’Sullivan, Mike Dowd, Aidan Holden, Mark Considine, Renars Uzraugs, Damian Lenkiewizc, Kiah Thomas, Thomas Davis, Aidan O’Brien, Matt Hall
