By Nichola Keegan

A Proud All-Female Club in a City of Hoops

Basketball has deep roots in Limerick, but Limerick Sport Huskies (LSH) holds a unique place: we are the Country’s only all-female national league basketball club. We field girls’ teams from under 8s right up to senior National League, focusing solely on female players. Our club was founded to give young women a place to shine on the court, and that mission remains our heartbeat today, serving nearly 200 women and girls.

Success on the Court – From Playoffs to All-Irelands

That focus is paying off. This past season, our senior women’s team earned a playoff spot in the Women’s National League, finishing in 2^nd place in the regular season and getting to the playoff semi-final, narrowly missing a place in the national final.

Our underage teams have been equally impressive. Limerick Sport Huskies’ U14 girls clinched an All-Ireland Club Championship, bringing home national silverware after a 44–31 victory over Athlone in the final DC. Not to be outdone, our U16 girls reached the All-Ireland Division B final, finishing as runners-up after a hard-fought campaign. These achievements – an All-Ireland title at U14 and a national silver medal at U16 – are a testament to the talent and tenacity of our girls and coaches.

Individual stars are emerging too. Sarah Horkan and Hollie Moore, both local teenagers, earned call-ups to Ireland’s underage national squads – Sarah to the U15 team and Hollie to U14. Seeing “Limerick Sport Huskies” listed on the Ireland roster is a proud moment for our club and proof that a girl who picks up a basketball with us can go all the way to representing her country.

More Than a Team – A Lifeline for Limerick’s Girls

LSH is about more than wins. We’re as proud of the community we’ve built as we are of the trophies. For some of our members, the club has been a refuge and a confidence- builder in a way school or other sports never were. As one parent told me, “For some girls who were bullied at school, Limerick Sport Huskies has been literally life-

changing.” In our gym, those girls find teammates who become friends, and coaches who believe in them. They discover self-confidence along with their jump shot. We see shy 12-year-olds blossom into young leaders by 16. That’s the real victory.

Keeping girls engaged in sport through the teenage years is a challenge everywhere, and Ireland is no exception. While female sports participation has risen in recent years, teenage girls still drop out at alarmingly higher rates than boys. Roughly one in five girls quit sports between primary and secondary school, compared to just one in twenty boys. The reasons range from social pressures to confidence issues. By ages 13–15, many girls have already labelled themselves “not sporty” and live by that label. Sport Ireland’s new “Her Moves” campaign specifically targets these disengaged teen girls, aiming to reframe what sport can be and keep them involved. Limerick Sport Huskies is proud to embrace such inclusion initiatives. We’ve run Her Moves events and girls’ workshops because we see the need first-hand. The most powerful barrier for young girls isn’t ability; it’s not feeling good enough to join in. Our club exists to smash that barrier by providing a welcoming, all-girls environment. Every time a 14-year-old who was on the verge of quitting sports finds her footing again with us, it reaffirms why LSH matters.

The Funding Gap – Women’s Sport Deserves Better

Despite our on-court success and off-court impact, Limerick Sport Huskies faces an uncomfortable truth: funding for women’s sport still lags far behind. Even as interest in women’s competitions soars, women-only sports attract only a tiny sliver of sponsorship money – a mere 1% of the sponsorship market, according to research by Nielsen. Yes, one per cent. The vast majority of sports funding (from sponsorships to media coverage) still flows to men’s sports. This isn’t just a national issue but a local one, and it leaves clubs like ours at a serious disadvantage. We don’t enjoy the historic donor networks or lucrative gate receipts that some men’s teams might. We rely on bake sales, raffles, and the goodwill of a few small sponsors to scrape by.

Our volunteer coaches, parents, and committee members pour in countless hours and personal funds to keep the club going. We’ve been resourceful and resilient – we had to be, to keep our ladies national league program going for so many years on a shoestring budget. But imagine what more we could do with real backing. The girls and women representing Limerick in Husky blue have already shown they can compete with the best in Ireland. The only thing holding them back is the lack of a sustainable financial support structure.

A Call to Action – Team Up with the Huskies

This is a direct appeal to Limerick’s businesses, community leaders, and sports lovers: team up with us. Limerick Sport Huskies has proven our passion and our potential – now we need partners to help secure our future. In practical terms, we are seeking sponsorship, including a title sponsor for the club. A title sponsor’s name on our jerseys and programs wouldn’t just be symbolic; it would be the financial lifeline that helps cover gym rentals, league fees, travel to away games, and development of our youth academy. In return, we offer genuine community impact: your support would help dozens of girls and young women stay in sport, gain confidence, and proudly represent Limerick on a national stage.

Backing LSH is not a charitable handout – it’s an investment in Limerick’s youth and in equality in sport. It’s also an opportunity: women’s basketball is growing fast, and we have the trophies and national team selections to prove our quality. A sponsor aligned with our club will be front and center as we push for more national titles in the coming seasons. More importantly, you’ll be part of an ongoing success story of community- driven sports development. Every time one of our teams wins a big game or a shy kid finds her voice on court, our supporters share in that victory.

Limerick is a proud sporting city. From hurling to rugby to soccer, we back our own. It’s time to extend that support to the only all-female national league basketball club in town. We’ve already shown what we can achieve on pure heart and hard work. With wider community support – from a small business’s banner in our gym to a headline sponsor for our senior team – there’s no limit. Our call to action is simple: come on board and help the Huskies continue changing the game for Limerick’s girls. In return, we promise to give this city even more to cheer about, on and off the court. It’s a win-win – for the team, for our partners, and for Limerick. Let’s make sure the Huskies howl only gets louder from here.