Hard work goes on says Breda

WICKLOW Camogie County Development Officer, Breda Donnelly, has described her winning of the Wicklow Local Sports Partnership’s Volunteer of the Year Award as long-overdue recognition of the value of camogie within the county.

Donnelly was given the Wicklow LSP award as part of a ceremony on February 27; adding it to the volunteer award she won as part of the Camogie Association Volunteer and Media Awards, in Croke Park a week prior.

Speaking to the Wicklow People, she said that it was a reflection of the work that was being done around the county for the betterment of camogie.

‘As far as I am concerned, it is great for camogie because it gives it more publicity and is raising awareness of the game among the sporting community,’ she said.

‘In general, it is often a Cinderella sport, to some degree, so it is nice for it to be up there, being applauded amongst all of the other sports.

‘Anything I do is a reflection of the people who are involved, playing, and organising. There are hundreds of them around the place in Wicklow. They are all working away, quietly. They are getting on with it and are doing trojan work in every corner of the county.

‘There is more camogie being playing in Wicklow now, than there ever was. We have 15 clubs, which is more than we have ever had.

‘You could call us great underachievers at county level. The background is there and the potential is there.

‘What we are trying to do is break through that invisible wall that is holding us back at county level.

‘We have more clubs than Carlow, Laois; counties like that who are doing very well at intercounty level, and there is no reason why we shouldn’t be doing the same.’

While she was in celebratory mood when it came to discussing the awards, and the work of the many, many volunteers behind-thescenes to promote the sport within the county, Donnelly admitted that there is still work to be done before it is viewed as being on a par with hurling or gaelic football, while also admitting that the facilities that are used by clubs and counties leave a lot to be desired, at times.

‘The more there is on the ground, the higher up the players will go.

‘We haven’t cracked that, just yet, but the more kids are playing – there are loads of kids playing at under-eights, under-12s, in all of the clubs.

‘Our challenge is to keep them playing and provide enough of an outlet.

‘The facilities, in general, aren’t great for camogie. We are always depending on somebody else to give us a pitch. The Camogie Association, nationwide, only owns a handful of pitches. Most of the time, teams are using GAA pitches which, to their credit, are being offered by different GAA clubs.

‘Camogie has been in the shadow of GAA over the years, so, to an extent, its identity has been diluted.’