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As the boys came running into the house on the 1200 block of South 10th Street — the best escape from the heat — you could feel their energy and excitement.
The Omagh Thunder, made up of eleven boys ages 12 to 14 from Omagh, Ireland, was in town for an east coast tour of the country, making stops in New York City, Monmouth, N.J., New Haven, Conn., Boston and Philadelphia. The team’s coach Eamon Daly, a Northeast Philly native, arranged a pit stop at his niece’s Passyunk Square home for dinner July 14.
After the previous day’s basketball camp, the boys had managed to tour the city prior to arriving in South Philly around 4 p.m. The day began with a sprint up the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s famous steps. It was told in confidence that one of the coaches actually won the race, but the rest of the team refused to support this claim.
The team’s 6-foot-5 captain, Oasan Kerlin, 14, revealed the rest of the day’s adventures.
“We went to City Hall and met a judge and Mayor [Michael] Nutter in the courtroom,” he said.
In fact, they had a scheduled time to meet the mayor, Dennis said, but due to some discrepancies with their public transportation had missed the appointment. While touring the courtroom at City Hall, Nutter happened to walk by and when Dennis saw him, he asked if Nutter would indulge the boys’ in a quick meeting and photos. The mayor was happy to oblige.
Then it was off to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall where the team and coaches were eager to share their newfound knowledge that the bell’s infamous crack was, in fact, the fault of the English.
The trip was the brainchild of their coach who relocated from Philly to Tyrone, Ireland in 2003 where he fixed up his family’s farmhouse and became involved in the community. He began coaching the boys’ youth basketball team in Northern Ireland, uniting Protestant and Catholic youngsters through sport — one of the few teams in that area of Ireland to do so as tensions between the two denominations can still be felt.
Then with a little help from his family and support from the team, Daly proposed this trip to a few U.S. major cities. Eamon’s brother, Dennis Daly, his wife Susan, and their daughter Erin Rymsa played a big part in ensuring that the boys made it to South Philadelphia. Rymsa even opened up her home to the boys.
Dennis spoke with pride about his brother.
“It was very difficult getting the Protestant and Catholics to play together,” he said. “Some of the parents wouldn’t talk to each other. Now, the boys play together and the parents are able to watch the games together.”
It was obvious the Daly family was very excited to have the boys here and the team was equally excited to be in Philadelphia as it was the first time ever visiting the States for the majority of the teens. Upon arrival at New York’s JFK International Airport, the boys made certain that they stopped in the NBA Store, which they all agreed was “lethal,” an Irish slang term for awesome or cool, according to coach Aidan Bradley.
When asked about their time spent in Philly each boy had something good to say especially about the basketball clinic the boys had attended in the Northeast the day before, where they played alongside and competed against different teams from surrounding parishes.
“Very fun and amazing,” Bally Rushe, a player on the team, said on the camp. “The people are more friendly than in New York.”
All of the boys were extremely excited to talk about their first game against a team called the Holy Terrors, who they beat by just one basket in a double overtime thriller. After such a long day of training and a hard-earned victory, the boys were then treated to a dinner at Paddy Whacks Pub, 150 South St., where the boys enjoyed burgers and dogs on the house.
When the boys’ coach finally squeezed a word in, he was all business.
“[I] never saw anything like the six hours of training they underwent at Coach Bobby Hurley’s camp at Monmouth University,” he said. “The boys were not used to this type of long, intense practice.”
This is because back home in Ireland, basketball is not yet one of the more popular sports, therefore, it is still gaining recognition and the level of play is not as competitive as here in the States. However, this did not deter the team’s spirits and they welcomed the opportunity for serious training and hard work.
“Everyone one was very generous [at the camp],” player Matthew Dudley said.
As it neared dinnertime, Rymsa, began taking orders from the boys in preparation for their trip to Geno’s Steaks, 1219 S. Ninth St. Everyone knows it would be sacrilege to visit South Philly and not have a taste of the city’s most famous delicacy; the cheesesteak.
Rymsa went around the room to each player and coach asking the crucial question of “onions or no onions?” in reference to how they would like their cheesesteak. There were a few replies for onions but most decided to have their first Philly cheesesteak without.
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