Paul Spider Keohane is one of basketball's great guys

Paul Keohane (or Spider as he is better known to his basketball friends) was named the Sean O’Halloran Cork Basketball Referee of the Year for last season. 

This award was more than well deserved as Paul is a real basketball man and a very decent and caring person. 

He always makes himself available to help his peers in refereeing circles and that is why he was thrilled to be nominated, as all his follow referees voted for him.

Keohane, himself is a member of Neptune since he was a six year-old boy, where he grew up playing with Steward Joyce, Tom O’Sullivan, Brendan Flaherty and Paul Kelly and was coached by one of the great teachers of the game, Noel Allen.

“I am so delighted to receive this award as the late Sean was a dear friend of mine before his untimely death, however, they waited long enough to give it to me,” Paul said with a cheeky grin.

“I started playing basketball for Neptune when I was about six years old when my friends, Steward Joyce, Tom Sull, Brendan Flaherty and Paul Kelly all would go down to the yard in the New School to play games. 

"I played right up to minor before I met the love of my life, Rhoda, and we got married and we have four wonderful children, Trudy, Ruth, Graham, Lucy and eight grandchildren. 

"Rhoda has being my rock for all these years, as she has backed me in every decision I made, some good and some bad, and I definitely think that she deserves a special mention, as she is also a incredible mother and grandmother.  She is a gem, one of a kind."

Paul tells us how he got into referring basketball games.

“I started referring about 20 years ago and it was by accident to tell the truth. 

"To be honest, by chance I was in the Neptune Stadium one day when there was two games to be played and no referee showed up. 

"I got a call from my good friend Teresa Murray asking could I help out and the rest is history as years later I’m still here for my sins. 

"I must say I do get a lot of enjoyment out of referring as it great to see kids enjoying themselves on the court and when some of them go on the play National League or with Ireland it fills me with pride. 

"The one thing that I have noticed in the last few years is the lack of referees in our association, which is a worry to be honest. 

"The lads on the committee are working hard to try get young referees involved, however, these young people just can’t be thrown at the deep end to do games over 18 as they could be at that age themselves or younger, so we must try protect them as well. 

"To be fair to our senior officials when they officiating with us, we all would try to guide them in the right direction throughout the game."

Away from refereeing Paul was the manager of the Neptune Stadium for a number of years and to be honest, he was the face of Neptune as he would be the first person people meet when you entered the venue. 

He was very professional in everything he did, as no job was too big or too small for him, and he would never ask anyone to do a job that he wouldn’t do himself. 

In that period when he was manager, the stadium was totally transformed, as a new floor, new drop down basketball baskets, all the dressing rooms and hallways were tiled and the whole stadium was painted, both inside and out.

“When I got married I stopped playing, however, I still helped out at the club Bingo every Tuesday night.

"I coached teams when I was needed to and was team manager of the National League side for a number of years. 

"I then was asked would I help the club with managing the Stadium by Pat Lucey and the late Leo O’Donoghue and I jumped at the chance. 

"The lads on the committee were fantastic to deal with as they gave me full control of the running of the Stadium. 

"I remember the first words that came out of Leo’s mouth in the back room when I was asked to do the job.

"Remember to welcome every child into the stadium with a smile and forget the colour of their jersey as it will be children having fun playing against each other and that is what this stadium was built for.

“They were very wise words from one of Cork's great gentlemen and I tried to be true to Leo's words all the time I worked there.

“I got to meet some great people over the years as we ran big boxing shows, MMA Fights with Cork's Graham Boylan at the helm, and some big concerts. 

"They were great days and I have some great memories for life, however, the lads below in charge at the moment are continuing the good work in fairness,” Paul added.