Irish basketball international Claire Melia says she's been keeping active and making the most of the good weather in a bid to beat the boredom of the recent shutdown.
Capped at senior international level while still a teenager, the Kildare native was a star on Irish underage teams, being part of the European under-18 silver medal in 2017 and was selected on the All-Star team of the tournament at last summer's under-20 Europeans in Kosovo.
Melia, who was on the Lilywhites side which reached the Leinster minor ladies football decider three years ago, earned a scholarship to play basketball for St Joe's in Philadelphia last year but has retuned home after a semester with the Hawks.
The 20-year-old made an impression during her time with the Hawks, where former Irish international Susan Moran is director of player development- scoring 23 points in their win over Columbia on her NCAA debut in November.
"The standard in America was good but it's maybe made out to be better than it is too," she says of her stint stateside. "Division One NCAA was pretty similar to playing at the Europeans if I was to compare. We were training for around three hours a day and then also doing an hour of strength and conditioning. In some ways I felt like I was developing but in other ways I wasn't as they expect you to do certain jobs out there.
"I went out last July for around three weeks just to get a feel of things and there was also a girl there from Australia which made things a little bit easier as the two of us were together in the same boat but then I came home for the European Championships. I wasn't really homesick, and I though I would have been. My parents came over three times and my sisters came over once and so did aunties and cousins, I actually had people coming out every few weeks which made the transition to Philly easier for me and I'm glad I did it.
"My sisters got to come to the game against Temple in November which was a big rivalry match and my parents got to see us take on Navy at Christmas and my aunty and uncle also got to see me playing in a tournament for St Joe's, which was cool."
Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Claire is taking on a marathon free throw attempt this Friday to help raise funds for one-year-old Dan Donoher, who needs two-million Euro for life-saving treatment in America.
Calling Ireland’s Basketball people, Claire Melia is fundraising for @DoItForDan201 and looking for your support, please visit https://t.co/0tBkDigyA9 and donate to this worthy cause if you can.
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— Portlaoise Panthers (@plaoisepanthers) April 11, 2020
"I was initially aiming to raise 1,000 Euro for the 1,000 free throws but thanks to all the generous donations it's already gone over the 6,000 mark now and that support for Dan has been amazing. Hopefully he'll get the chance to get over to America and get the treatment which he deserves.
"All of my family and friends have mad donations and the basketball community have really been great too. Kieran Donaghy and (Lawrence) "Puff Summers have shared my gofundme and helped to get the word out there about the fundraiser and that's led to people from all over the country getting involved.
Upon returning to Ireland in January, Melia helped the Portlaoise Panthers to victory in the Hula Hoops Women's National Cup Division One final - scoring ten-points in their victory over Trinity at the National Basketball Arena.
"There's great talent coming through at the Panthers and Aoife O'Malley and Jack Dooley did a great job developing us all the way up along and made really fun to play the game. And at senior level Peter O'Sullivan has always made things enjoyable which makes you want to play for the club and do well. Everyone has to work hard but if you put the effort in then there's the reward of court-time and the club have done a great job of bringing through young players.
"It all started back at Community Games level and then my sisters passed on the skills of the game early on. I looked up to them and listened to everything they told me and they brought me over to Portlaoise to join the Panthers as they were playing with them. Maeve and Catherine O'Sullivan were also teaching in Monasterevin so I wasn't entirely sure what to call them in class! You go from teammates on the court on a Saturday night to then being their student on a Monday!"
Claire spoke to Off The Ball from her home in Kildare as part of our How's The Head series and she feels staying active has been key to maintaining positivity in recent weeks:
"It hasn't been too bad, it feels almost like you're doing the same thing every day but we'll all get through this as long as we all stick together and stay safe while trying to find little things just to stay busy.
"I've found myself going for two or three walks a day and shooting some hoops and kicking around the ball, just small things really. Listening to music is this recent good weather has also been good to lift the mood."
Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
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