A Moycullen underage star who went on to captain our Superleague team, Patrick Lyons’ basketball journey has led him to Germany where he is currently playing as a full time professional with Aschersleben Tigers in Germany.

We caught up with Paddy during one of his brief stints back home between games where he spoke about being a professional basketball player, his pride about being from Moycullen and the life experiences he has gained through sport.

I am on the court a lot and I am getting to work on specific skills and I am instantly seeing how it is translating

The Dream

Playing professionally was always a dream for the Moycullen man, and so far it has not been a disappointment.

“I’m very happy to be trying out the professional basketball life….it is kind of everything that I was looking for in terms of playing professionally.”

That said, it was not the ideal start to a professional career when his first season, playing at the time for TuS Bad Aibling Fireballs came as the Covid pandemic was hitting. His season was cancelled right before the first game and he was forced to find a new contract, which he did in Spain. After completing the season near Barcelona last year, he was scouted and ultimately signed by Aschersleben over the summer where he has since thrived and has been made a team captain.

Above – Patrick in action for Aschersleben Tigers in 2021 – Photo Credit voigtographie.de

Life as a Pro

What does he like about the professional life? More time on the court.

“It is very interesting now to have a chance to totally focus and give it my all….I am on the court a lot and I am getting to work on specific skills and I am instantly seeing how it is translating.”

Paddy credits the role his time playing Superleague in Ireland with Moycullen for how well he has adapted to the professional life

“We are lucky when we play in the Superleague because we have professional guys that come and play for us and I am lucky to have played with professional guys here while I was a young lad but also when I became an older guy on the Superleague team and seeing how those guys came and carried themselves when they were playing professionally for us here I was able to appreciate it more now that I have to do the same.”

It all helped him achieve what was a long time goal of being a professional player.

“Making this jump to playing professionally and signing my first full contract and being paid and having a wage for playing. This was a big goal for me.

I am very proud to be from Moycullen and from this club

Sacrifices

Part of being a professional however comes with the necessary sacrifice to succeed.

“When you do make the jump to go professional it can be a bit cut throat in the sense that depending on how you perform in a season will depend on whether you get a contract next season.

“I have definitely had to sacrifice quite a lot socially to pursue my basketball goals….my family and girlfriend and everyone here has always understood how important these things are for me and they have always given me great support to go out and do these things…..It can be lonely sometimes and I felt that when I was a bit younger, if things aren’t going so well on the court and you don’t have that network around it can be tough.”

#ParishPride

Will we see him back playing for Moycullen any time soon?

“I would love to wear a Moycullen jersey and compete with whoever is around at whenever that is for sure whenI am little bit older.”

He remains a proud Moycullen man.

“I am very proud to be from Moycullen and from this club….I think [people outside Moycullen in basketball] know generally when we come out of Moycullen Basketball Club we are always very proud of our village and everything about it.”

Paddy was part of one of Moycullen’s most successful underage teams, winners of almost every major trophy on offer. He remembers the days with that group fondly.

“When I think back on the trips we would have and the different tournaments we would go away on it is nothing but great memories.

“It was a really special group….we won basically everything growing up. I think we all really just loved playing and I think that helped it. even when we weren’t training or whatever we would always be hanging around trying to just play pick up or we would be talking about NBA or playing basketball video games. We were all just basketball obsessed.”

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