Limerick Lions
| Limerick Lions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Leagues | North Munster and Kerry Leagues | ||
| Arena | St Celments | ||
| Location | Limerick | ||
| Team colors | Blue, White, | ||
| President | Brendan Ryan | ||
| Head coach | Harry Coyne | ||
| Championships | North Munster u14, Kerry U16 | ||
| Website | http://www.limericklions.com | ||
| Uniforms | |||
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The Limerick Lions are an underage basketball club based in Limerick, Ireland. They play in the North Munster and Kerry Leagues. The Limerick Lions play their home matches at St. Clements College.
Besides the senior team, the club also has an underage program with teams competing on a national level from under 8's to under 18's.
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.[1] Former coach Tom Hehir was named the Nivea for Men Coach of the Month on two occasions between 2005 and 2007. Cleotis Brown was awarded Basketball Ireland Foreign Player of the Year for 2002. While a number of Limerick Lions players, including Chris Jefferies and Jonathon Stevens, have also been named Southern Conference Player of the Month.
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'.
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 Limerick's men and ladies teams (the UL Ladies team plays in the women's SuperLeague). The arena can hold a capacity of almost 2,500 fans and was the host (in conjunction with the Limerick Lions) to the Superleague Finals Weekend 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 seasons. The University Arena was also host to the opening match of the inaugural Basketball Ireland Emerald Hoops series which saw Notre Dame University (USA) take on the men's senior team in front of a crowd of over 1,000 spectators. Other than hosting top national basketball matches the arena facilities include Ireland's first 50 metre pool, 4 basketball courts, the National Strength and Conditioning Centre and a top Cardio-Fitness Centre. The facility is also used as a training centre for top athletes from across the world as well as the Munster and Irish Rugby teams.
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
External links
References
- ↑ [http://www.rte.ie/sport/basketball/2002/0127/basketball.html, RTÉ report on 2002 National Cup Win]