Two Trinity basketball players Aoife O’Halloran and Laura Fortune have been named in the latest Irish under-20 women’s squad and will join the 19-person squad for a training camp in January.
Both O’Halloran and Fortune, who are in their first year of college, study management science and information system studies (Msiss) and engineering respectively.
While the Irish under-20 team have no immediate games on the horizon the opportunity to train as a team will prove valuable as Ireland look to fine tune their focus towards the European Championships that will take place in Israel next summer
Speaking to The University Times over email, Trinity Basketball Club Captain, Manuel Carro, was eager to express his pride in the two players saying: “Laura and Aoife have accomplished something most people only dream of and I have no doubt in my mind that they will make Ireland as proud as Trinity Basketball is of them.”
O’Halloran’s international recognition caps off a memorable month for her as she was also named a Trinity Sports Scholar this month, meaning she can benefit from specialised strength and conditioning training, a dedicated medical care pathway, as well as financial support from the college.
Both O’Halloran and Fortune play in the post, which requires being a versatile scorer in attack as well as having the athleticism and size to defend against their opponent’s biggest players.
The two players are also teammates with Trinity Women’s A team and and have been teammates at national under-18 level in the past. O’Halloran plays her club basketball with Pyrobel Killester, who won the under-20 National Cup last year, while Fortune plays with Kildare club Courtyard Liffey Celtics.
At college level O’Halloran and Fortune were part of Trinity’s first-year team that got to the semi-finals of a freshers tournament in Carlow last month. While success in the league has been elusive, the team’s focus will now be on the upcoming intervarsities hosted by Trinity.
With intervarsities and a European Championships on the horizon, O’Halloran and Fortune will have a lot to look forward to over the coming months with both Trinity and the Irish team.
