TEAM NI U17M and U15B Squad Updates 2026

Team NI U15 and U17 players came together early in January to train and add selections to squads for the upcoming international series in Wales later in the year. Both U15 girls and U18 women kept their long squads together and selections will be made at February half-term.

The U15 boys, led by coaches Rolandus Bartkus and Beth Winders, had their re-scheduled first trial on the 2^nd January and a squad of 25 boys were selected to move to the next phase.

Head Coach Rolandas Bartkus commented,

We were very encouraged by the standard and depth on display at this year’s U-15 boys’ trials. Having around 40 players attend, with strong numbers across all positions,  not just guards – shows real growth in the pathway. The boys worked extremely well, competed with great attitude, and should all take this as a positive step in their development, whether they are selected this time or not.

The U17 men had an additional trial to select further players to their first squad and then a series of internal scrimmage games on the 4^th January, 2026.

Vice chair and Associate Head Coach Marc Mulholland was pleased with the new additions and the work undertaken over the 2-day period.

We have had the opportunity to see a vast majority of these players come through the pathway over the past 3 years now from U15 to U17. It is exciting to see their development over the years. What is even more impressive is the amount of new talent developing in our clubs. With these sessions Michael and I wanted to give as many opportunities to players to get the experience within the pathway going forward. We believe it is important that players continue to develop and understand they could be called upon and invited to join the performance panel at any stage during their development throughout the season. During the January window we enjoyed seeing the players, compete and develop and have since added to the squad as a result of these sessions. 

Associate Head Coach, Marc Mulholland 

Andy Gill, Pathway Performance Coordinator for BNI stated:

‘ All the team NI squads had different outcomes in the January sessions with selections for the boys and further foundation work for the girls. We will now be in a position to complete our 2026 competition planning over the next 4 weeks’

We look forward to contnuing the development of the pathway for all age groups in the coming months as we prepare for international games in the summer of 2026.

Team NI U15 Boys First Squad

Team NI U17 Men First Squad

Updates for the summer sessions will be shared with the players selected in the coming weeks ahead.