From an athlete’s perspective: Basketball and touring in Ireland

Evan Hannay Guest Writer

When I told my friends from home that I would be going to Ireland with the rest of the Vassar men’s basketball team at the end of the summer to compete, many asked incredulously why anyone would go to Ireland to play basketball. For them, the idea of traveling to Ireland for basketball, where sports such as Gaelic football, hurling, rugby, and, of course soccer dominate the national sports spectrum, is akin to going to Siberia to get a tan. Nevertheless, the trip was an extremely valuable experience. From Aug. 19 to Aug. 27, we had the unique opportunity to experience vibrant Irish culture and to participate in an under-the-radar yet passionate basketball scene.

We arrived on campus on Aug. 16 for four days of training before leaving for Ireland. Although some of us were not conditioned for such an early start to the season, Head Coach Mike Dutton said that he was pleased overall with the status of the team and the off-season workouts.
The first contest was against the 19-and-under club team (Killester) in Killbarrack, a “dodgy” neighborhood just north of Dublin’s center. In Europe, all the best players play for the local club teams rather than for the colleges. Although the fatigue of traveling left us a little sluggish at the start of the game, we won 100-56, with Tyson Brazell ’08 (24 points), Larry Avitabile ’08 (13 points), Brian Butterworth ’09 (12 points), and Joe Davis ’09 (13 points) all turning in solid efforts.

The next leg of the trip brought us to Northern Ireland and Belfast, where we played against another club team at the Queen’s College Athletic Center. Having already worked out any kinks in techniques during the first game, we won 78-37, with contributions coming from point guard Lenny Holt ’09 and a trio of seniors: Joe Ward ’07, Tom Driscoll ’07, and Will Kieffer ’07 (each scoring 10 points).

We knew from the beginning that the third game would be the toughest. Back in Killbarrack, we were matched against one of the top teams in Ireland—St. Vincent’s.

Each team is allowed to have two American and one non-Irish player from the European Union on their rosters. Despite getting 22 and 12 points from Brazell and Kieffer, respectively, St. Vincent’s American player Jermaine Turner (22 points) dominated inside and outside, and we fell by 72-70, in part due to a misunderstanding of international rules.

The final game was back towards Shannon airport, in the small town of Ballina, against the local club team Merry Monk. The town was excited for the game, with advertisements announcing the contest posted on the doors of local shops. We managed a hard-fought 67-54 victory, led by the scoring of Davis (16 points) and Butterworth (14 points), Ward (seven points), and Matt Nunn ’09 (seven points).

Our week-long stint in Ireland was full of accomplishments from many different perspectives. Afterwards, Dutton said, “We appreciated the chance to see where everyone was in terms of conditioning and how the dynamics of the team were shaping up.” As players, the trip was a unique opportunity to gauge our strengths and weaknesses in preparation for the beginning of our fall season.