Basketball Blip BY JOHN HAGAN
NOW THAT THE TOKYO OLYMPICS ARE IN THE OFFING, WE LOOK FORWARD TO HAILING MORE GOLD MEDALS FROM IRISH ATHLETES SUCH AS, PAT O’CALLAGHAN, BOB TISDALL, RONNIE DELANY, MICHAEL CARRUTH, MARY PETERS, MICHELLE SMITH AND KATIE TAYLOR. UNFORTUNATELY, IN 1948, ONE IRISH TEAM WAS NOT QUITE SO FORTUNATE IN THE ELUSIVE QUEST FOR GOLD.
88 | THE IRISH SCENE
In 1948, with nearby London chosen as the site of the Olympics, the Amateur Basketball Association of Ireland (ABAI), only formed in 1945, decided to seize the opportunity to promote and grow their fledgling sport on the international stage. Basketball in Ireland, until that date, had largely been the prerogative of the Irish Army, introduced as an auxiliary exercise for boxing training during the 1920s. As a consequence, the Army’s basketball rules and regulations were significantly different to those internationally accepted. The ball used was described as being ‘a cross between a Gaelic football and a medicine ball’; it was much bigger and heavier than that used by other countries. While international basketball precludes physical contact, the Irish version was intensely physical - more akin to Gaelic played in a confined space. Initially, Army authorities were reluctant to cooperate with ABAI, refusing the Association access to Army players and training facilities in Dublin’s Portobello Barracks on the basis that ‘a team of army players would not be of international standard’, and would be unable to ‘give a performance of sufficiently high standard to bring credit to the country and the army’. Reluctant to take ‘no’ for an answer, ABAI continued pressing the government, and, on 1 July 1948, the Minister for Defence, Dr T F O’Higgins, finally acceded, approving Army involvement. A pool of 22 players was selected from the various army commands to undergo an ‘intensive period of coaching and training’ at Portobello Barracks. Eventually, the 22 was whittled down to 12, most of whom were from Western Command, based at Custume Barracks, Athlone. Only one of the final team, Harry Boland, was added from outside army ranks, making a total of 13 players in the Games contingent. The basketballers, together with the rest of the Irish Olympic competitors, left Dublin’s Westland Row Station on Saturday 24 July 1948, en route for London. They took the train to Dun Laoghaire, boarded the boat to
