OVENS man Nicky Bohane is one of the good guys in sport and is a very popular coach and table official on the local and national basketball scene.

He has a very busy schedule as a coach to two clubs, Ballincollig and Glanmire, and when he is not on the training court, he can be found doing the 24-second clock as a table official with both clubs when the Super League teams are playing.

Ovens native Bohane lives at home with his wife Joan and their three children, Shona, Eoghan, and Cian.

He started out in basketball when Francis O’Sullivan encouraged him to join Ballincollig Basketball Club when was in First Year in Coláiste Choilm. He played for the club at underage level before an ankle injury forced him to take a step back in his early 20s.

After a brief time away from the game he got involved again when his daughter Shona started playing as an eight-year-old.

Bohane To date, Nicky has coached various underage teams with Ballincollig and Glanmire and was also involved with two Cork men’s intermediate teams as coach and assistant coach.

“This year I have been coaching the Ballincollig boys U13 team and with Glanmire U20, intermediate and premier women’s teams,” Bohane said.

“The U13 boys are a great bunch and they always help keep me on my toes. This group initially began as a core of about six children who all started playing when they were four or five years old in the academy with Francis and myself.

“In recent years the numbers of children have been constantly increasing to the point where we have over 40 kids playing at this age group.

“My daughter Shona joined Glanmire about three years ago during Covid for the outdoor training sessions when Timmy Murphy noticed me watching the training, so he asked me if I’d help out with the club.

“I initially took the U20 team and to help Joe O‘Sullivan as his assistant with the U18 team briefly last year.

“Outside of coaching I would also be a registered table official with Basketball Ireland and I would mainly do the 24-second clock for the Super League games for both clubs and also help out Neptune when they need me.”

EMOTIONAL

This year was a very emotional time for Bohane, as one of his closest friends Garreth Blount passed away recently .

He would have coached Garreth as a young player to senior level and they created a great bond and friendship.

Bohane was one of the first people to learn that Garreth got sick when he called him from Spain where he was living at the time. When Garreth came home for treatment, Bohane asked him to become assistant coach with him with Glanmire Intermediate team.

Garreth was on the bench at their intermediate National Cup final game, a few days before he sadly passed away.

“I would have started coaching Garreth in 2017 when I was assistant with Kieran O‘Sullivan on the Cork intermediate men’s team. He would have played with Ballincollig U16 up to National League level with other coaches. I would have coached him on the Division 1 local league and Cork intermediate men’s teams.

“We had a lot of success together over those few years and became very close friends. He told me about his illness early last year and said that he couldn’t play anymore.

On hearing this I convinced him to come up and coach with me in Glanmire, as I knew his father Gary had coached there previously and both were well regarded in the club.

“Also having such a young team with eight players that were 22 or younger, I knew he would be a great fit with his infectious energy and mischievous sense of humour.

“One of our goals at the start of the season was to try to win the National Intermediate Cup. We got to the final but unfortunately came up just short against to a very experienced Liffey Celtics team.

“One week after the final Garreth passed away, he left a massive impact on all our teams together, and will be missed hugely by all of us who were lucky enough to have know him.”