College Sport in 2014/15: A Year in Review
The 2014/15 academic year brought with it a lot of success for UCC in terms of sport with many clubs, teams and individuals shining through and accomplishing big things across both collegiate and national platforms. In particular the Basketball and Soccer clubs enjoyed near perfect seasons with many other sports clubs enjoying highly competitive seasons. The aforementioned Basketball club led the way with unprecedented success, in terms of the college and the country. The side dominated the Super League, Ireland’s premier basketball competition, going undefeated throughout their league campaign with eighteen wins. The UCC Demons were also victorious in the National Cup and Champions Trophy to record an impressive treble to add to their double from last season. The team firmly setting themselves as the best in the country. This national and collegiate dominance was further recognised by the College awarding Adrian O’Sullivan, one of the team’s key players, his second UCC Sports award this year. UCC FC enjoyed a season to rival that of the basketball club, winning the Munster Senior League for the first time in the clubs history. The club were also were successful in inter-varsity competitions, enjoying victories in the Collingwood, Crowley and Harding cups to complete an impressive 2014/15 season. The success of the club saw both Jason Abbott and Sean O’Mahony receive UCC Sports awards as well as Liam Corbett, one of the clubs coaches, earning ‘The Kieran Dowd Perpetual Award’. UCC RFC did enough to maintain their status in Ulster Bank division 2A. A dominant end to the season, including 3 wins and a draw, saw the men’s first team earn tenth place in division 2A and as a result avoid relegation to division 2B. This achievement is particular notable considering that this year six teams were relegated to division 2B as part of a restructuring of the All Ireland League. First year Paul Kiernan earned an award for his contribution to the success of the senior men’s season. While Alison Miller earned her third UCC Sports Award for her impressive international rugby exploits. The winger, now graduated, played a key role in the Irish Women’s rugby teams Six Nations victory in 2015 and has been a key player for the side in recent seasons. The Sailing and Cricket clubs also has good years, the former winning inter-varsities for the first time in two decades while the latter won both the indoor and outdoor inter-varsity competitions. UCC continued its rich history of success in Gaelic games as the senior men’s team were unlucky not to retain their Sigerson Cup (Inter-varsity) title. The 2014 champions hosted the 2015 competition and unfortunately lost out in the dying moments of the final to DCU. Paul Geaney, a member of both the 2014 and 2015 UCC men’s teams, was awarded his second UCC Sports award as he continues to play at inter-county level for Kerry. Katrina Mackey also received a UCC Sports award for her role in Cork’s 2014 camogie All-Ireland title, her All-star award and her integral role in UCC’s camogie team reaching the semi-finals of the Ashbourne Cup. Cork inter-county footballer Roisin Phelan received her first UCC Sports award for her role in the Cork Ladies’ All-Ireland victory and her contribution to the UCC’s ladies football team reaching the semi-finals of the O’Connor Cup. UCC students Jean O’Driscoll and Chris Mintern were also recipients of UCC Sports awards, the former is a member of the Irish Senior Women’s panel while Mintern earned the first award for Triathlete in the College’s history, narrowly missing out on the national title.