Star begin quest for hat-trick of titles

Few sports can match the growth experienced by Irish basketball within the last decade and that status is expected to increase further when the new season of the ESB Superleague tips off this weekend.

After restructuring and expanding to 14 teams last season, the men's Superleague appears certain to provide another competitive and exciting series as Star of the Sea set out in search of their third title in succession.

The Northern side begin their campaign in the home surroundings of Maysfield Leisure Centre this evening where they play host to old rivals and current Sprite National Cup champions, Denny Notre Dame.

That game will also be the first in TG4's new live television coverage, which will feature one live game at venues in Cork, Dublin or Belfast each weekend throughout the season.

In addition, a highlights package will be broadcast on Network 2's Sunday Sport programme from October 17th, covering one women's Superleague game each week. Regular previews of games will also be shown on TV3's Sports Tonight.

After the Belfast game, the rest of the action begins tomorrow and Sunday, with last season's runners-up Waterford Crystal at home to Dungannon and UCD Marian hosting Esat Telecom Demons.

New to the Superleague this season are the Clare Jets, who last year ended up third in Division One. They travel to Cork to face Neptune.

On Sunday afternoon, former champions St Vincent's face Sligo Dairies and Burger King Limerick take on Killester.

Bottom of the table last season were Tolka Rovers, but they will be hoping for a good start this season when they host Kerry Spring Killarney. One of the more interesting transfers over the summer saw last season's Superleague foreign player of the year Eric Blair move from Waterford to Dublin to join Denny Notre Dame.

Neptune have signed Irish women's head coach Gerry Fitzpatrick to take over their training responsibilities and they are hoping he can produce the sort of success which saw him lead the Avonmore Snowcream Wildcats to four consecutive women's Superleague titles.

Elsewhere, Superleague veterans and former Dublin Bay Viking players Jerome Westbrooks and Ed Randolph have joined Killester, while Anthony Jenkins returns as player-coach at Denny Notre Dame.

The big question surrounding the women's Superleague is whether Avonmore Snowcream Wildcats can make it six titles in succession.

They begin tomorrow evening by hosting Dublin club Crusaders, who have stepped up to the big league after winning the Regional League two years in a row.

The University of Limerick take on Meteors in their new facility at the university while last season's runners-up, Tolka Rovers, will play Killester on Sunday afternoon.