Kildare club players poised to represent Ireland at 2026 FIBA Masters Open

Kildare will have no shortage of interest in the inaugural FIBA Masters Open in Greece, with players from the likes of Naas Serpents, Tigers BC, Kildare Gliders and BC Leixlip taking their place in various Ireland squads for the tournament, which runs from July 4th to 12th.

Indeed, Naas will see three of their members travelling out this week, including Pam Grogan who will compete with the Ireland F50 squad, which is managed by her clubmate, Breda Cassidy, while John Clancy takes his place in the national M60 panel.

Both Inarts Vitols of BC Leixlip and Morgan O’Sullivan, representing Gliders, have made the final 12 for the Ireland M45 squad, while Niamh Smyth of Tigers has been included in the F45 team for this competition.

Grogan is making a return to the international basketball stage having last represented Ireland in the World Championships in Finland back in 2019.

Since then she has competed for Triathlon Ireland at the European Olympic Distance Duathlon Championships in Poland where she finished fifth in her age group.

And, while she qualified again this year having won the National Championship in 2025, she opted to return to basketball and will now be heading to Greece where her F50 team will face off against Italy, Mongolia and Australia in Group A.

For the Naas Serpents player, selection for the Ireland squad is the reward for months of hard work and commitment.

“While the games and the tournament are a huge part of it, for me it's everything that comes beforehand. It’s the journey that makes it so special” Grogan told The Kildare Nationalist.

“It’s the months of training, the commitment, balancing family, work and everyday life. But it's also the friendships and the camaraderie that you develop along the way.

“The people you're surrounded by all have a shared goal, and we all work really hard for one another, and representing your country is the reward for all of that” she said.

Looking ahead to the competition, Grogan said “It’s a very tough group that we’re in. The standard is high, but we’re excited for the challenge.

“Hopefully we'll do enough in our group and give ourselves a chance to progress to the knockout stages where we’ll face either the runners-up or the winners of Group B” she said.

Grogan’s clubmate and coach in Naas, John Clancy is relishing the prospect of representing his country for the first time when he takes his place in Ireland M60 panel, saying “To be honest, it was a bit surreal being selected and getting my first cap at 60. It will be some honour to line out for Ireland next Sunday against Puerto Rico.

“We have a very tough schedule of games that includes Puerto Rico, Mexico, Italy, Australia and other play-off games. Training has been tough over the past six months, but now we’re focused on more tactical aspects as we get ready for next week” he explained.

Included in the Ireland M45 squad are BC Leixlip centre, Inarts Vitols and Kildare Gliders man, Morgan O’Sullivan, who bridged a long spell out of basketball when he made a return to the sport two years ago.

Looking forward to pulling on the Ireland jersey for the first time, O’Sullivan said “It feels insane, but something that I would have always dreamed of.

“I played a lot in school, and to a high standard, and we would have been at All-Ireland Under 19A cup finals, but I didn’t play for a very long time," said O'Sullivan, who won a county GAA title with Sarsfields and represented Kildare in 2004 and 2005. 

“I came back two years ago and signed up with a masters team just to try and get back into basketball.

“But when I saw the trials being offered this year, I said, I'll just go for it, and I slowly started getting better. This is just an absolute dream come true. I never thought it would happen, but I saw the opportunity, I gave it a shot and I got picked, which is absolutely amazing, so I can't wait,” he said.

The Ireland M45 team will face off against tough group opposition from the likes of Australia, Argentina and Greece, but O’Sullivan insists Ireland have a strong squad heading over to Greece.

“The team itself is full of ex-internationals, amazing ballers who have always been part of the game, always kept playing.

“We have guys coming over from the States, and our coach [Darren O’Neill] is from Belfast, and he's massively experienced.

“I'm absolutely loving learning everything off them. It's an honour to be with them and to play alongside them and to learn from them.

“That’s one of the more important things for me, just to be around this level of coaching structure,” he added.

Tigers Basketball Club’s Niamh Smyth has already enjoyed great success on the international basketball front, having helped the Ireland F40 team to bronze at last year’s FIMBA Maxibasketball World Championships in Ticino, Switzerland.

Now set to line out with the national F45 squad for the FIBA Masters Open, she is backing her side to produce another great run in Greece.

“I think our F45 team has a great mix of experience, commitment and team spirit” she insisted.

“We’ve been working hard and, while we know the competition will be tough, we’re hoping to do ourselves and Ireland proud. If we play to our potential, we will bring home more medals this year” she predicted.