Tyrrelstown, lying 10 miles west of central Dublin, is a very international community. Many residents originate from the Mediterranean, Central and Eastern Europe, West and Southern Africa, Asia and America, regions where basketball is popular. So it’s no surprise to find that a local basketball club is playing a big part in bringing these diverse communities together.
The Dublin Sonics boasts a roster of more than 200 players and 20-30 regular volunteers, and Club Secretary, Dave Lawrence reckons that the players’ parents represent around 35 different nationalities. He says:
“The club is a mix of cultures and backgrounds. We’re exceptionally diverse, and we pride ourselves on that.”
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Charisse Mae Ducao & Andrei Vlad Vasilescu
The Sonics have grown rapidly in recent years with a total of 12 teams currently, including boys under-12s to under-18s, girls teams and a masters (over-40s team) added just this year. There’s also an academy for 6–10-year-olds which aims to teach children the basic skills of the game, helping them to develop until they are old enough to join a team. A particular focus in the last four or five years has been to increase female participation, leading to the Sonics setting up new girls teams. Dave explains:
“An important part of the club’s expansion is to grow the girls’ teams. Some of those teams are doing particularly well, which is great to see.”
Doing well on and off the court
Success on the court across all categories and age groups has followed for the Sonics. Dave says that: “Last season was probably our most successful ever. We won trophies and got teams promoted. At the individual level, eight players represented Dublin (four boys and four girls), we had three players at various Irish academies, plus one boy representing the east region. And one lad of Filipino background was selected for the Irish under-18s.”
Success has brought its own challenges though. Securing playing facilities is an ongoing battle; unlike soccer or Irish sports like hurling or Gaelic football, basketball requires more than just an empty patch of grass. Increased membership also means additional demand for places in teams, which can be a problem given the nature of the game. With just five players per team on court at any one time, matchday squads are limited to 12. With a single team at each age level, that can make it tough to offer game time to up and coming players. Last season, for example, a couple of the older age group teams were promoted to Division One level making it a challenge to accommodate less able or newer players.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Charisse Mae Ducao & Andrei Vlad Vasilescu
The Sonics’ solution has been to open up a skills academy for older boys and girls. That provides the opportunity to develop players, with the potential to enter new teams at lower league levels in order to give those players a competitive outlet.
Irish basketball is thriving, but promoting the sport remains key
The good news is that the state of basketball in Ireland is robust. Dave says that Covid had a big impact on indoor sports, but since then there’s been massive demand: “Pre-Covid there were only two divisions at say under-15s. Now there are three divisions at every single age level. The demand for basketball has shot up dramatically. We’re seeing three divisions across a lot of the girls age groups as well.”
Nevertheless, Dave feels that continuing to promote the sport is vital. Basketball is an indoor sport, which means that unlike, say football, people don’t see it being played in local parks and playing fields as they go about their daily lives. So social media has a particular role to play in bringing the sort to public attention.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Charisse Mae Ducao
The club encouraged younger members interested in developing their online skills to get involved by posting about forthcoming games and other club news. However, there was no unified look and Dave says, “It all looked different, it didn’t look right.”
Kappa has worked with the Sonics to give them a professional, unified look, providing templates into which photographs and text can be dropped, giving a consistent look across all the club’s social media platforms. Dave says:
“The stuff Kappa has done for social media has been fantastic. Pre-made templates are a godsend. It gives us a professional look and pulls together the design language. We don’t have the time to do that, so when Kappa offered, it created a starting point from which we can grow.”
As well as promoting the club, this has also met another of the Sonics’ goals which is to provide opportunities for youngsters to get real-life experience in areas like social media:
“The Kappa templates give us a starting point so we can hand it off to one of the boys or girls that are interested in this area. We’re here to support the members in as many ways as possible. We want to help them in later life. The experience gives them a step up into adult life.”
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Charisse Mae Ducao & Andrei Vlad Vasilescu
The Sonics and Kappa – five years and counting
The Sonics and Kappa have been working together since 2019. Kit from the previous supplier varied too much in terms of style and quality, so they went looking for alternatives. Dave says:
“We got samples from various suppliers, showed them to people within the club, and decided to go with Kappa. We loved the lightweight jersey, especially compared to the one from our previous supplier which was heavy, and it also held up in terms of quality. We decided to go with Kappa and it’s gone really well.”
In the final analysis, for Dave, the Sonics are all about the community and the individuals within the club. He says:
“You always remember one or two particular kids and you’re proud of being part of their journey. One girl had real potential, but she was nervous and reluctant to shoot. We worked with her and now we see her shooting and scoring from all over the court. She joined as an under-12 and is now on the under-15s Dublin team. Players like that are the reason why every one of us in the club is doing what we’re doing.
He sums it all up like this:
“We are community focused. At the end of the day, that’s the reason why we’re doing it”.
