In 2024, we added ladies and men teams and this year will compete in Basketball Ireland's Domino's Women's Division One League. Kilkenny Stars Basketball Club is a huge success story. Like a phoenix from the ashes, the club was born from the remains of the once vibrant basketball scene in Kilkenny City. In the 80's and 90's there were many youth basketball clubs here in the city but sadly, over time, these youth clubs faded away due to lack of volunteers and any real driving force. A decision was taken to amalgamate the youth section of each club into one. It was called Club Kilkenny and operated out of St Canices Hall once a week. Some truly dedicated volunteers continued to work with the remaining children but numbers were small, too small to create teams to compete in leagues. That all changed when Wayne Edwards (a basketball die hard!) brought his young children along to join the club. Wayne and a number of other Kilkenny Stars coaches began to help out at St Canice's Hall and very soon after The Watershed opened in Kilkenny. With this new facility available, they decided to advertise "basketball for all" every Friday at The Watershed. It's fair to say they were surprised at the interest and quickly had to reach out to parents for help. Over the next few years numbers grew, more volunteers came on board and the club became organised with an elected committee in place to deal with the day to day running of the rapidly growing club. In 2010/2011 a decision was made to rename the club and "rebrand" in order to reflect the huge progress that had been made since the days in St Canices Hall. Kilkenny Stars Basketball Club was officially launched by Kilkenny Mayor, Martin Brett at the end of season celebration in 2011. The club aims to provide children and young adults the opportunity to learn and develop basketball skills. To enable them to excel to their best potential in a positive and challenging environment. To help them reach their potential with thoughtful and skilful learning strategies, and to empower them to continuously improve and to develop a lifelong commitment to basketball, sports, fitness and healthy living. While competition is healthy, there is a big emphasis on fun and inclusion of all our players. Kilkenny Stars Basketball Club is a place for children and young adults to have fun, get regular exercise, compete and make life long friends. The club has had a lot of success on the court winning many league and championships within the southeast and midlands competitions. Our teams have competed at a national level in the All Ireland Club Championships. Kilkenny Stars players continue to be chosen for South East basketball developmental squads and teams and one of our players was chosen to play on the Irish team. Heading into the new basketball season the club has in excess of 50 dedicated volunteers at hand to ensure the future growth and success of the club. It's a true example of people power and what a community can achieve when they work together with children's interests at heart. All volunteers are Garda Vetted and coaches have completed the relevant courses certified by Basketball Ireland. The club adheres to the Basketball Ireland Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct to ensure child protection is a top priority. The club has reached youth membership in excess of 300 children. There are 15 teams from under 8 to under 18 boys and girls, 11 of whom are competing in official competition and the remaining 4 playing in regular blitz. This equates to almost 30 training hours per week for Kilkenny Stars players! While The Watershed has become the adopted home of our younger players and temporary base, the remaining teams train at various venues around the city. The vision is to one day secure our own premises, a true home for the Kilkenny Stars Basketball Club family. Registration usually takes place in August with training commencing the first week back to school in September. Please check our website in July/Aug for details of the upcoming season.
