St. Joseph’s College has a long and proud tradition of playing basketball and competing at both participation level and also in competition at the highest level and have won national ‘A’ titles in every age group in the recent past. The Bish won their last All-Ireland National Title in 2024 when the Bish won the All Ireland U16A Title captained by Sam Herrick. The BIsh are also U16A Regional Title holders of the Western Regional team. The teams train at lunchtime and in the evenings. In 2025-26 the Bish are currently preparing for an All Ireland U19A Semi Final in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght.

Awards

The Bish have won many awards over the years including ‘Basketball Ireland School of the Year in 2012, 2016 and 2019. Several Bish players have won awards including most recently Tony Ezeonu and Brian Gaffney who were most recently awarded ‘Basketball Ireland Player of the Year’. Ferdinand Osabuohien also won Most Valuable Players (MVP) in the U16 All Ireland win in 2024.

Coaches

The Bish have four teachers in the school who are qualified coaches, some with Irish National Team and High Performance coaching experience and licences. The teachers train the teams on a voluntary basis. Two of the current Bish coaches have also received the ‘Basketball Ireland Coach of the Year Award’ in recent times.

International

The Bish have also regularly flown the flag for Ireland most recently in the ‘International Schools Federation World Basketball Championships’ in Croatia. Many students from the Bish have gone on to represent on Irish National Teams in European Championships at both underage and senior level proudly representing their school and clubs. Last year Luke Herrick and Eoin Cleary represented their school and club on the U18 Irish national teams while Ferdinand Osabuohien and Sam Herrick represented Ireland at U17 level. Former students Patrick Lyons and Cian Nihill represented Ireland most recently on the Irish Senior Mens basketball team.

Physical Education & Wellbeing

As well as competitive team basketball, the school also offers participation basketball to all students on all Physical Education modules. Bish teams also play at B/C levels in the West region for students who wish to play in a less competitive and more developmental and participatory level within the region.