UCC: A Year In Sport

Writes Sam CurtinThe sporting year may have been cut short but it has still been a very successful academic year for UCC sport. In this article we will be looking back at some of the highlights for 2019/20.GAANowhere else to start but with the hurlers on what was another fantastic year for the Fitzgibbon cup team. Tom Kingston’s side successfully defended their title defeating the likes NUIG,CIT, DCU and IT Carlow in the final. There was also personal success Shane Kingston who received the player of the tournament award and was named along with five other UCC players on the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup All Stars team.There was heartbreak unfortunately for the camogie team who were beaten in the Ashbourne Cup final by UL on a scoreline of 3-14 to 0-12. There was no shame in this however as they came up against a truly special side in UL who won their 5^th title in a row.Unfortunately for our senior ladies’ football and men’s fresher teams they were unable to complete their campaigns due to emergence of covid-19 but they will no doubt be more hungry than ever to reach the summit next year.SoccerIt was another successful year for UCC soccer with the highlight being the J1 men’s team who were crowned Division four champions with a stunning 7-0 victory against Bray Institute FE in the final. They also reached the final of the Crowley cup but unfortunately narrowly missed out on the double losing 5-4 on penalties against Maynooth University.HockeyThe men’s senior hockey team had another excellent year reaching the Munster Senior Cup final which was due to be played on St. Patricks Day before falling victim to covid-19. The men’s second team were also due to be in action on finals day after reaching the Munster Junior Cup final. Hopefully these games can played at a later date.RugbyThe rugby season was cut short unfortunately due to the pandemic but there was still success for the UCC men’s team who won the Donal Walsh Cup after defeating Cork Con 10-3.The women’s senior team also enjoyed an impressive season reaching the semi-finals of the Senior Cup before the season was postponed.TennisThis years intervarsities were held on home soil in Sunday’s Well this year. Our men’s 1^st team were unfortunate to miss out on the final battling storm Jorge and DCU, narrowly missing out in a deciding doubles tie-break. There was some silverware however for the men’s second team who won the plate defeating Trinity seconds in the final.Our ladies 1^st team reached the semi-final and were unlucky to lose out to Trinity.Other events that took place this year included the Relay For Life which was an 18 hour event running from 6pm Friday, March 6^th to 12pm Saturday, March 7^th. For 18 uninterrupted hours, participants and cancer survivors walked around the Sonia O’Sullivan track in the mardyke in solidarity in the fight against cancer. A very worthy event for a very worthy cause.Overall it was another great year for UCC sport, although not every team or athlete managed to get their moment in the spotlight due to unforeseen circumstances. Sport is such an integral part of UCC and so is the health and wellbeing of students which is the most important thing of all. For those who did not receive their opportunity shine can use this period for reflection and indeed motivation for next year to make sure that 2020/2021 is a year to remember.