Fast-moving game has No Frontiers for major artist

CELEBRITY FANS: MARY BLACK, Singer, 54: BasketballLegendary folk and contemporary singer Mary Black was 13 when she fell in love with basketball at her secondary school, St Louis, in Rathmines

When did you start playing?

My particular passion for basketball started when I began secondary school in St Louis in Rathmines, which was known as a basketball school. At 13 I’d no knowledge of the game, as such. We were introduced to it in first year. Within a month or two I was completely hooked. I thought it was the best thing ever, to the extent that I used to stay after school to play, five evenings a week. I’d play Saturday morning, go home for my lunch, and go back to play in the afternoon, and again on Sunday morning; and that went on for years. I used to be disappointed that we couldn’t all play on Sunday afternoon as well.

Were you any good?

I managed to make all the A teams. I’m a left-hander so I think that was an advantage for getting picked on the left-hand side. I was good, but I was small – I’m only 5ft 2½ins. I was fast and I was a forward so I wasn’t defending, per se, so I didn’t need the height for catching rebounds. I’d be just waiting for the pass. I’d be half way up the court before a team-mate even got it into their hands.

Did you play after school?

I joined the Guinness basketball club because my brother Michael was working in Guinness. I made lifelong friends from that team; I’m still in contact with quite a few of them. Then the Guinness team disbanded when I was in my mid- to late-20s and I joined Coasters. We were a very competitive team. We won, I think, five divisions in a row to get up to the second division in Dublin.

Do you remember any highlights?

There was one game in particular that I remember – the final game to win the league. I was on the bench for the whole game – this was when I was getting a bit older – and they brought me on in the last two minutes. We were down two points. I went up the court in a lay-up, with the ball myself, and I got fouled. I had two free shots and a third and I got them all in and we won the game because on the last shot it was full-time. That was a big, big deal. I was a hero even though I’d only been on the court two minutes!

What makes basketball appealing?

It’s very exciting. There’s lots of scoring. It’s fast-moving, believe it or not. If you see it at higher levels, it’s incredibly skilful. You have to have a mathematical mind – you have to make your passes fast and quick.

You have to find the angle to get the ball to your team-mate, who’s closer to the basket than you, without a defender getting in front of you.

What frustrates you about the sport?

What used to frustrate me was if you had one weak player it could really lose a game for you. If you’re on a basketball court – it’s such a small area and there’s only five people on your team – everyone has to give it everything. If I felt somebody wasn’t putting their all in, it would frustrate me. I would even say this looking at my daughter and her team and she could be one of the culprits! I’d want to strangle one of them because I know they have the potential but they just didn’t give it that extra bit. Honest to God, when I was younger, if I was chasing a ball, I’d run to the ends of the earth to get it, that obsession with getting your hands on the ball and putting it into the basket. I think you have to be driven to be a good basketball player.

Who’s your favourite player?

I used to like Michael Jordan but I think it was as much for his looks as for his basketball play.

Did anyone ever warn you about the risk of injury?

When I was pregnant with my first, the doctor said, “do everything that you normally do up to about four or five months. You’ll be grand”. But he probably didn’t mean to include playing a contact sport like basketball, although it’s supposed to be non-contact! I was playing this game and I got a bang in the stomach and I landed down on my bottom. It was the early stages of pregnancy. Joe, my husband, happened to be at the game.

I was a bit shook. So were the girls, who were around me, because they all knew I was pregnant. I definitely said that day: ‘That’s it. No more basketball’. That’s the way I was – I didn’t want to give it up when I was pregnant.

Were there any repercussions?

No, the baby was Conor; he’s 28 now and he’s 6ft 5 ins. He leaves a mess behind him, but he’s perfect in every other way.