Naas Serpents celebrate 30 years of local basketball

Naas Serpents launched their 30th anniversary celebrations on September 28 and paid tribute to late Kill resident Gerry Wren, his wife Barbara and family who made a huge contribution to the local basketball club over a number of years.

In Attendance were Mayor of Naas, Fintan Brett, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin T.D. and Deputy Francis Noel Duffy T.D. along with Senator Vincent P. Martin.

Others in attendance included local school principals as well as representatives from other sporting bodies and clubs and invited guests and friends.

The event paid tribute to the evolution of the club and the origins of organised basketball in Naas which traces back over a sixty five year period through local schools and the old army apprentice school, Devoy Barracks.
 
Tribute was also paid to Joe Clancy who the club say pioneered schools basketball locally.

In 1982, Joe, who had moved to Naas some years earlier, began coaching in St. Mary's College and soon achieved success at school girl cadet level, culminating in an All- Ireland title.

He also coached underage teams in community games basketball competitions and tournaments. 
 
In the mid-nineties, coinciding with the completion of the first two school gymnasiums in St Marys and Naas CBS, a small cohort of local basketballers formed men's and ladies senior teams.

Since then the teams have grown into a 300 strong inclusive club catering for all ages.

The Name “Naas Serpents” is derived from the Serpentine symbol seen in crests associated with the town. Indeed the serpentine symbol is found in the crests of many local clubs, schools and societies across the town.

The Serpents initially successfully competed in a midland league but soon migrated back to play in Dublin based competitions.

In the early years it was not always plain sailing as clubs from outside the Pale had to nominate a gym like the National arena, Tymon Park or the Oblate hall, Inchicore as a home base, thus stifling our local support and development.

The ladies’ squad has blossomed under experienced senior club coach, John Clancy, who has taken up the mentoring mantle from his father. 

Yet, both senior squads have been surpassed by the exponential growth of underage basketball locally. 

In 2017 the club started a grassroots development programme and now boasts eleven teams from under-11 to under-20 age groups, along with two senior ladies teams, one men's team and many coaches, referees and supportive parents. 

The event also served as an opportunity for the club to bring to Minister Catherine Martin's attention that many minority sports clubs who do not posses permanent homes are not eligible to apply for capital sports funding or similar funding.

The lack of accessibility to such funding places them at a disadvantage to sports clubs around Kildare who recently availed of €8.3 million in capital sports funding.