NE Knights at 31st Eurobasket International Tournament Spain 2025
Again this year the U16 and U18 North East Knights squads travelled to the Eurobasket tournament in Lloret de Mar during the first week in July.
The hard work which began last September paid off with a wonderful week of basketball and shared memories for the 55 strong group of 46 players along with a support team of 9 coaches and managers.
The initial training sessions began in September 2024 with the final trials taking place in late December. This was followed by a programme of team training, whole group sharpening sessions and team building in preparation for the trip to the EuroBasket 2025 international basketball tournament on the Costa Brava in Spain.
The 31st EuroBasket tournament, which ran from 29th June - 5th July 2024, involved over 60 teams from 16 different countries
This is an account of the week’s events in pictures
Day 0: Saturday, 28th June - the journey
On Saturday morning members of the North East Knights U16 and U18 squads and their coaches and managers met in Dublin Airport to begin their journey to the 6-day Eurobasket 2025 basketball tournament in Lloret de Mar. It was a long day’s trip involving a 7 hour stopover in Madrid airport - in order to secure the best value in flights for the whole group.
The group flew from Madrid to Barcelona with Aer Iberia arriving there at 8.20pm local time before boarding the bus to their accommodation in the Hotel Cleopatra Spa. Unfortunately there was a further delay at the airport in Barcelona as one of the player’s check in luggage didn’t arrive but eventually the final part of the journey was complete and everyone could settle into their rooms in blocks 2 and 3 of the hotel.
Day 1: Sunday, 29th June - First Day of Games
All four of the teams were in action on the courts on the first day, with 4 games in total. Following the long day’s travel the previous day there wasn’t much of a chance to relax before taking to the court for the opening game of the tournament at 12pm. This honour fell to the U16 Girls who met team Njardvik from Iceland. After a slow start from the Knights team the game did not go their way and the Icelandic team were convincing 78-61 winners.
Tournament schedule days 1-4
After some lunch it was the turn of the Uu18 boys who happily secured a very good win against an Italian side, Fermignano MBA.
That evening’s games took place on the outdoor court with the U18 Girls in action in the sunshine at 7pm and the U16 Boys under floodlights at 10.15pm that night. Again, the U18 girls had a tough opening encounter W(Open) against a team from another Italian club BF Livorno.
After a brisk walk back to the hotel for some dinner it was back to the El Moli outdoor court for the U16 Boy’s opening game against Q FC Martinenc from Barcelona. The boys put in a very impressive performance under the lights to emerge convincing winners of the encounter, so a happy band of players and supporters made its way back to the hotel for bedtime.
Day 2: Monday 30th June - Games & Opening Ceremony
While the U16 Girls had a rest day, all of the other teams were in action on day 2. This time it was the turn of the U16 boys to play in the sunshine at the El Moli outdoor court. The boys came up against a strong Turkish team from Teşvikiye and the result didn’t go their way - playing in the heat of the midday sun outdoors as well as contending with some injury setbacks didn’t help. The U18 boys and girls teams were in action indoors that afternoon and the U18 boys had another good win against Sambervespa from Italy.
Happy Birthday Fionn
While the result for the U18 Girls against a Portuguese team from Brandoense wasn’t a win the team felt much happier with its performance as the players had adjusted better to the conditions.
After a relaxing evening for all the teams and a chance to explore Lloret de Mar a little, the group was back in El Moli at 10.15pm that night for the official opening ceremony. The Irish flag was carried for the group by Donal Smyth, captain of the U18 boys team while the other teams were represented by their captains Sean Mrna(U16 Boys), Deborah Oyeleye(U16 Girls) and Alice Rowley(U18 Girls)
North East Knights players 2025 at the Opening Ceremony
Day 3: Tuesday 1st July - More games & Team Meals
All teams were back in action with the U16 Boys starting the day with a game v Sambervespa which they won. The U16 Girls were happy to register a win against Magi Hands(Turkey) while the U18 Girls also achieved a win against Oroquieta from Madrid. The U18 Boys continued their line of wins by a score of 74-58 against the Magic Hands(Turkey) M07/08(U18) team.
That evening the U16 teams got an opportunity to dress up so for their team meals – made possible by generous sponsorship received from DIGI Labels, IGWT Love Foods and O’Reilly Hoofcare as well as some private donations
Day 4: Wednesday, 2nd July
Another busy afternoon and evening for everyone with games at 5.30pm, 7pm, 8.45pm and 10.15pm. Although the earlier part of the day was game free the teams focused on being prepared for their games later in the day by relaxing and trying to keep cool.
First up were the U18 Girls who took on Team 79 from Poland at 5.30pm. After an extremely close encounter the girls were very unlucky to lose by 4 points in the end.
The U16 Girls faced a local team, Bailalo Rocky from Girona at 7pm coming away with a second convincing win.
Next up at 20.45pm were the U18 boys against a Serbian team, Sinerji ASK, which proved too strong for the Knights squad winning by 6points. However the results from the precious 3 games were enough to see the boys top the group and qualify for the final on Friday with the winners from the second group.
Once again the u16 boys had to wait until 10.15pm to play their game, this time against a team from the Italian Sports Academy and also lost out by 6 points.
Day 5: Thursday 3 July - Group games conclude and U18s dine out.
While the U18 boys had a rest day, but still needed to wait for the outcome of other games in their group, the other 3 teams were all on court again. First up at 10.30am were the U18 Girls who faced French side Nice B.A.O. This was an extremely close game the whole way through but it was not to be the Knight’s day. The sides were level going into the last quarter but the Nice team edged the win by a single point in the end.
The second game of the morning saw the U16 boys in action against the Magic Hands(Turkey) club’s M09(U16) team. This time the Knights team came out on the right side of another close encounter on a final score of 56-53. The result also meant that the boys had finished runners up in their group as the placings were determined by the results from the games as teams had already played 5 games each in this age category.
For most of the teams the remainder of the day was spent relaxing at the pool(nobody being too anxious to go to the beach due to the high temperatures) - and even the U16 girls who had to keep themselves prepared for another 10.15pm game, managed to keep cool as well.
The two u18 squads took advantage of the free evening to go for their team meals before everyone headed back to the hall for the final group stage game between the Knights u16 Girls and the W09 team from Teşvikiye (Turkey). A convincing win for the girls was enough to see them qualify for the next day’s 1 V 2 final in their W09 category.
Results from other games through the day meant the U18 boys had also qualified for the 1 V 2 final in the M07/08 group. So a happy group of players and mentors returned to the Hotel Cleopatra for the last full night in Lloret d Mar.
Day 6: Friday 4th July -Finals Day & Closing Ceremony
First up were the U18 Boys who faced an Italian academy team –Metauro – in the M07/08 final at 2.30pm. The Italian team got off to an extremely fast start with the score at the end of the first quarter 10-29 in Metauro’s favour. The players recovered some ground in the second quarter to reduce the margin to 14 points and a half time score of 29-43(19-14 for Q2). However the Italians pulled away again in the in the third quarter to with the score at 32-57, and Metauro emerged as 65-49 winners at the final whistle.
Despite the disappointment of the final it was a great achievement to finish runners up in a group of 10 teams and the players and coaches can be proud of the high standard of basketball played throughout the tournament.
With little time to catch their breath it was a brisk walk from the Pompeu Fabre to El Moli for the W09(U16) Girls’ Final in which the NE Knights team was facing Icelandic team Njardvik - the side which had defeated them by 17 points in the teams’ first encounter at the start of the week.
This was a long and nail biting affair from start to eventual finish - with an official start time of 4.45pm the final whistle didn’t blow until after 7pm!
Termed the ‘go big or go home’ final by the Knights’ coaching team, a change of tactics at the start of the game saw the Knights players take the Icelandic squad by surprise and the girls were ahead by 14 points to 7 after 6 minutes of play. But this was a strong Icelandic team so by the end of the quarter there was only a single point between the teams with Knights on 15 and Njardvik on 14. The second quarter was another very close affair with strong defensive work and the sides finished level on a score of 25-25.
By the end of the third quarter the Knights girls had edged in front again with the score now 39-35 and the defensive work of the girls from the North East helping to reduce the threat of Njardvik’s most influential player wearing ‘0’.
But the nerves of everyone watching(both in the hall or joining via livestream) were sorely tested in the fourth quarter as the two teams were basket for basket. With only 10 seconds left the Knights were ahead by a single point, 51-50, but following a time out by Njardvik, one of their players was awarded two free throws, scoring 1, which left the two teams deadlocked on 51-51 at the end of regular time. So extra time beckoned…………………
Happily the Knights players seemed to have a bit more left to give during the five minutes of extra time and took a one basket lead after 23 seconds. With 28.6 seconds left there were just 3 points between the teams when Njardvik took its final time out. This time though saw a crucial interception of a pass by the Knights defence and the win was secured - topped off by an added basket on the buzzer to leave a final score of 68-63.
With Angelo working extra hard on providing livestream coverage of the game so parents back home could watch it is likely that many many nerves were shattered by the time that game was finally over!
A very happy group of Knights players, coaches and managers made their way back to the hotel where the management were generous enough to allow the u16 Girls jump in the pool as a celebration!
U16 Girls Pool Splash Celebration
AWARDS & CLOSING CEREMONY
There wasn’t much time to spare before the Awards & Closing Ceremony, so after a quick dinner it was back to El Moli again where the Knights contingent enjoyed every moment of the celebrations of a week filled with basketball, new experiences, personal development - with new friendships formed and old ones renewed. Happily the on court rivalry with the Icelandic girls team didn’t spill over on to some off court friendships which had grown during the week.
Saturday 5th July - Home again
By the time everyone returned to the hotel there wasn’t really time for anything other than packing and checking out as the bus to take everyone to Barcelona airport was scheduled for 1.45am. So it was a takeaway breakfast and then off to the bus stop. The direct flight home was with Vueling at 5.50am and the group arrived back in Dublin a little after 7.30am, when tired players were re-united with their families.
Ready for off
Sponsors
The NEBB Knights are indebted to the following sponsors for their financial support of the 2025 trip:
IGWT, the love food company, MonaghanO'Reilly Hoofcare, Virginia
DIGI Labels, Mullingar & Dublin
North East Knights Sponsors 2025
Coaches and Managers
A huge thanks to those who volunteered their time and expertise to make it possible. As well as coaching/managing the teams in preparation for and during the tournament members of the group looked after designing and sourcing the teamwear and backpacks, booked and sorted the flights itinerary for the whole group and looked after accommodation and other logistical details needed for a project like this – thank you Tony, Brian, Tom, Sally, Damien, Sinead, Jessica, Debbie, Clare and Ursula.
A fond farewell to Eurobasket 2025
Players and Parents
A huge thank you to everyone involved with the North East Knights since the trials began last September – players committing to training and parents making sure they got there - all that work has led to what was an amazing week for the U16 and U18 players - It couldn't have been done without all of you.
This year coaches and managers were particularly proud of the number of compliments paid to the whole group by tournament organisers and hotel staff for the respect shown to other players as well as officials and staff. The Knights players were fantastic ambassadors for their families and clubs and the whole North East region.
North East Knights group at the Closing Ceremony
And finally – a huge thank you to everyone involved in organising and running the tournament for their hard work, friendliness, enthusiasm and all-round helpfulness – Giusseppe, Veronica, Andrea, Anita, Eric and Leo Basket to name but a few!
With over 60 teams from 14 countries to coordinate with fixtures, referees etc it is a mammoth task, but the spirit of camaraderie between the staff and participants helps to make the EuroBasket experience so enjoyable to be part of offering players and everyone involved a wonderful opportunity.
If you would like to find out any more about the NE Knights teams please contact: knights@nebb.ie
EBIT Eurobasket Tournament 2025