Basketball Ireland enter FIBA Women’s 3×3 World Series for first time

Mar 15 2024

Basketball Ireland will participate in the FIBA Women’s 3×3 World Series for the first time in our history, as we take the next step on our 3×3 High Performance programme, which launched last year. 

The initial phase saw men’s and women’s teams compete in the FIBA Nations League, an U23, multi-stop competition during which Ireland took part in events in Poland and Romania in July and August. Our women’s team managed a second and third place finish during a three day event in Poland, losing narrowly to Latvia in the final. The men’s side also competed admirably against Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia and Croatia in the group phase on their side of the bracket. 

We also entered men’s and women’s FIBA U17 3×3 Europe Cup and FIBA 3×3 Europe Cup qualifiers, ending in the quarter-finals against eventual finalists Spain for the U17 Men’s team, while the senior men’s side would ultimately lose out in the final of their qualifying event against hosts Cyprus.  Ireland’s women reached the last four at the FIBA 3×3 Europe Cup qualifier in Cyprus, where they were defeated by the eventual winners Luxembourg. 

As we continue our attempts to improve our FIBA 3×3 World Ranking, which currently stands at 51, the next step is participation in the FIBA Women’s 3×3 World Series. 

“This is a very exciting move for our 3×3 programme,” said Basketball Ireland’s Senior Technical Offier Matt Hall. “The FIBA Women’s 3×3 World Series contains teams from the very top level of women’s basketball, such as The United States, Canada, Spain, France and many more. Competing against opponents of this level, on a regular basis, is hugely important for the development of our players as we build upon strong performances in the FIBA 3×3 Nations League and FIBA 3×3 Europe Cup qualifiers in 2023. I’m looking forward to seeing Irish basketball competing on a worldwide stage later this year.” 

Competition Format

The FIBA Women’s 3×3 Series is a global tour event which comprises of 20 stops around the world between April and August. The number of stops we will compete at during the calander is yet to be determined,  with the final taking place in September.

Here is a full list of the scheduled events: 

• Springfield (USA)– April 23-24
• Marseille (France) – May 29-30
• Gabala (Azerbaijan)– June 2-3
• Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) – June 6-7
• Clermont Ferrand (France) – June 14-15
• Orleans (France) – June 20-21
• Chengdu (China) – June 21-22
• Poitiers (France) – June 25-26
• Quebec (Canada) – June 29-30
• Wuhan (China) – June 29-30
• Fribourg (Switzerland) – July 4-5
• Edmonton (Canada) – July 5-6
• Bordeaux (France) – July 9-10
• Baoding (China) – July 12-13
• Pristina (Kosovo)– July 18-19
• Guba (Azerbaijan) – July 20-21
• Saskatoon (Canada) – August 17-18
• Baku (Azerbaijan) – August 17-18
• Debrecen (Hungary) – August 24-25

Canada are the defending champions, while among the other 18 confirmed opponents include the United States, Spain, France, Thailand, Puerto Rico and Mongolia. You can see a full list of the current competitors here. 

Squad Selection

Anyone wishing to be considered for the Ireland women’s squad for the FIBA 3×3 Women’s World Series is required to complete the expression of interest form below. 

Expression of Interest

• Depending on the volume of applications, players will be asked to attending training sessions where the final squad will be selected.
• The head coach will select players to attend training camps throughout the summer.
• This will be determined on previous experience, standard of play and eligibility to play for Ireland.
• Anyone wishing to play for Ireland must hold a valid Irish passport.
• Players living outside of Ireland will be considered for selection.

Participation in this elite performance programme involves playing at the highest level of 3×3 basketball, thus significant commitment will be required if you wish to be part of this squad. Prior playing schedules and commitments of players can be worked around. This programme will run in conjunction with our other national team programmes.