Inishowen-based pensioner to play at World Masters Basketball Championship

placeholder image — Mick Lowth and his son Darragh

Mick Lowth, a Dubliner who relocated to Inishowen some 15 years ago, will line out with the Ireland men's over-65s team in Switerland

Inishowen will be represented on the Irish basketball team that travels to Switzerland for the FIMBA World Masters Championship this summer.

Mick Lowth, a Dubliner who relocated to Inishowen some 15 years ago, will line out with the Ireland men's over-65s team. “I started collecting the pension last month,” he laughed, “it just goes to show – there's plenty of life after pension age!”.

Mick is a familiar figure in basketball circles in the north west. He holds weekly training sessions at Buncrana Youth Club (Tuesday evenings for boys, Thursdays for girls), coaches the Ulster University Magee College ladies’ team and assists with the North Star team his son Darragh plays with in Derry.

Indeed, young Darragh is taking his first steps into representative basketball having been selected for the North West regional academy U14 team.

Having grown up playing the game with his home club St Declan’s in Dublin, Mick had stayed involved with the game as a referee and administrator and thought his playing days were over until a friend asked him to give masters basketball a go.

He started off with the Ulster masters team, and later travelled to Turin for an international tournament where Ireland and Scotland came together to form a squad.

Masters basketball has grown steadily in both countries since. In June, Ireland will send five teams - three men’s and two women’s - to the World Championships in the Swiss canton of Ticino.

It’s not his first big masters tournament. Mick was part of the Irish team that competed at the FINBA European Masters tournament at Malaga, Spain in 2023.

“We were in a tough group alongside Italy, who went on to win it, and Serbia who were bronze medallists,” he recalled. “The last World championships were held in Finland two years ago and I'm really look forward to the tournament in Switzerland.”

Collective training is held once monthly in Belfast or Dublin, but Mick keeps his eye in with early morning sessions at Buncrana Youth Club and the Foyle Arena.

“Unfortunately, I have a calf injury so I'm not able to do much training for the next week or two, but I'll still practice a bit of shooting,” Mick says.

Ireland will take a 12-man squad for the over 65s and Mick and his teammates are anxiously awaiting to learn who they'll face in the group stage games. USA are the reigning over 65s champions (and yes, they often field ex-NBA players) while Brazil, Serbia and Uruguay also feature prominently at this grade.

The tournament will take place over nine days from 27 June-6 July. While the team is fully sanctioned by Basketball Ireland, the players must pay for their own travel and accommodation costs for the tournament. The governing body and the players have organised a sponsorship draw where, for the price of a €100 ticket, the winning business will become the overall sponsor the travelling teams.

Anyone who'd like to enter the draw to become the sponsor all five Irish Masters teams at the forthcoming World Championships can contact Mick Lowth on 085 782 0938 for details.