March NUI Galway Announce Centre of Excellence Partnership with Basketball Ireland

NUI Galway has become a Centre of Excellence as part of Basketball Ireland's ambitious plans for 10 Centres of Excellence, which will be located nationwide. NUI Galway and Ulster University in Jordanstown are the first two universities to have confirmed partnerships with Basketball Ireland this month.

NUI Galway's Centre of Excellence will provide access to expertise, such as strength and conditioning, sports medicine, sports psychology, diet and nutrition, sports management and administration, coach development and training. It will also have media and meeting facilities.

This Centre of Excellence will be used as a national training camp for international sides, along with Basketball Ireland academies. There will also be the ability to host international fixtures, national senior competitions, intervarsity competitions, along with local schools cups and blitzes.

Mike Heskin, Director of Sport and Physical Activity at NUI Galway, said: “We are very excited about this new partnership with Basketball Ireland’s High Performance Programme. The University has been developing partnerships with a number of the High Performance Sport programmes in Ireland, involving both domestic and Olympic sports. We are certain these partnerships will prove hugely beneficial to our University athletes by providing a clean pathway for them to achieve their athletic goals. We are especially delighted to be in partnership with Basketball Ireland to build on the existing relationship."

Basketball Ireland CEO, Bernard O’Byrne, said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with NUI Galway who have wonderful facilities and a proven track record in sport, developing athletes for elite competition. This Centre of Excellence is a major infrastructural initiative by Basketball Ireland to deliver world-class facilities and will give our international players and teams the best chance of success when they compete. These Centres of Excellence will be geographically spread, meaning there will be top of the range resources available to the local basketball communities in every corner of the country. We want everyone participating in the sport to have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. We have seen a surge in interest in basketball in Ireland and we are determined to continue its growth.”

See a short video announcing the partnership here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT2ZTUaDtJc.

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