Ireland has been confirmed as the host country for the European Under 18's Women's Championship next year.
The event will be held across two venues including the National Basketball arena in Tallaght and the new Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown.
That latter venue is due to open in early 2017.
Commenting on the development, Head Coach of the Irish Under 18 Women’s team Tommy O’Mahony said: "This is an opportunity that should be relished by everyone in the Irish basketball community. European Championships don’t come to your country every year so while it’s here, we should all take advantage of it and take pride in the fact that it’s here.
"Anytime we travel to Europeans, the best support over there is always for the Irish team so I can only imagine what the support is going to be like now in our own country. It is a fantastic opportunity for Irish people to see international basketball during the summer and it’s a big opportunity for Basketball Ireland and for the Under 18 girls to show off their skills as the home nation on a massive stage.
"This is yet another stepping stone to even more brilliant opportunities for basketball in Ireland. It’s a long time since Ireland hosted such a big tournament and hopefully, everyone will get behind the girls next year."
The tournament will run from August 4th to 13th, 2017 with 24 participating nations and at least 50 matches between the qualified teams.
“It is a great honour for Basketball Ireland to host this European Championships. It has been quite some time since we hosted such a prestigious event here and all of us in the basketball community look forward to welcoming the 24 countries that will participate in the competition," said President of Basketball Ireland Theresa Walsh.
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