Louise Scannell of St Paul's B.C Killarney

Órla O Leary (0:00)

Okay, so I'm joined on The Big Red Bench with Louise Scannell, who plays for St Paul's Killarney basketball on The Big Red Bench this evening. How are you, Louise?

Louise Scannell (0:11)

I'm good, I'm good. Thanks for having me on.

Órla O Leary (0:14)

Of course, thanks for coming on. So I suppose just to start it off, really, how did you first get involved in basketball?

Louise Scannell (0:22)

I suppose I had a big connection to basketball through both sides of my family, in particular, my uncle Mark. That's what gave me the push to go and play in basketball, along with my two cousins. It was something that I just grew up around, so I just fell into it.

Órla O Leary (0:39)

So you mentioned Mark there, what was he in basketball, your uncle?

Louise Scannell (0:45)

He was the Super League head coach of Glamire Ladies Basketball, and my two cousins Jessica and Clodagh had played with them as well.

Órla O Leary (0:54)

Okay, perfect. So as well, Louise, you did previously play for Glamire and Limerick Celtics. So you're now playing against your former clubs. So on November 21st, you face former club Limerick Celtics. So how does it feel knowing you'll be playing against your former club?

Louise Scannell (1:13)

I suppose there's a bit of excitement there.

I suppose it's always a bit of fun coming up against girls you used to play alongside with. But yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I think, you know, Limerick was a home for me, I suppose, for the last year and a half. And it's somewhere that I'm very familiar with, the people and the court. So I suppose, yeah, it's it's exciting. And I'm very looking forward to it.

Órla O Leary (1:39)

And what about like giving too much away then to Limerick Celtics, even though you played with them already? But every player, like they do have a strength on the court. What's yours?

Louise Scannell (1:50)

I suppose I would be a very good, consistent, knockdown three point shooter. But I think it's my aggression on the court.

I have a hunger, a will to win. But I think that kind of comes with the whole group that I play with this year. As you said, like, you know, we all bring different individual strengths. But yeah, I think that would be something that, you know, a lot of teams would scout me for. So I think that's what I would bring to the floor in that game against Limerick.

Órla O Leary (2:22)

Okay, so like, what makes as well, like playing for St Paul's Clarence so special?

Louise Scannell (2:28)

You know, I think it's the group of girls that we have. It's a very different team this year. There's a lot of new faces, you know, myself included. We have three unbelievable professionals, two from America and one from Spain.

I think the coaching staff are impeccable. You know, they give so much to us. They're very dedicated, very committed. But I think that goes through from the coaching staff to the team, to our managers, to our supporters. You know, I think it's just a very humble and happy place to play. Everyone's glad to be there. Everyone's glad to put the work in. And, you know, at the moment we're unbeaten, so I think it's a good step, you know, coming into the game against Limerick there on the 21st.

Órla O Leary (3:17)

So yeah, like being unbeaten at the top of the table, like as of right now, what's the spirit like with such a great achievement so far?

Louise Scannell (3:26)

You know, I think we're very happy with the results, you know. It was a tough October for us. We faced very, very good teams. Arguably, some teams that had been top of the table last season, that had won it last season. But I think, you know, the work that we put in as training, I suppose, the belief we have in each other, great to be top of the table, but you know, it's just the beginning.

Still very early days in the league, still coming up to face very, very strong oppositions. And I suppose then coming into the Cup, you know, I think that's our focus, kind of just to keep building, keep pushing and get ourselves ready for the Cup at the beginning of December.

Órla O Leary (4:09)

Okay. So I was like always kind of curious, like in the Super League, how much time do you train a day for a game?

Louise Scannell (4:17)

Well, I suppose with the dynamic that we have right now, we would train a Tuesday and a Thursday with a game at the weekend. Now, there could be an extra session thrown in somewhere around the week, but our core days are mainly Tuesdays and Thursdays for about two hours.