Stephen Bennett secures hurling All-Stars Award
Ballysaggart native Stephen Bennett is among the select lineup of forwards chosen in the 2020 PwC Hurling All-Stars.
In what is the 50th year of the prestigious awards, it means that the Waterford man is the 1,500th All-Stars Award winner presented since its launch in 1971.
The 2020 season saw Stephen scoring a phenomenal 1-57 in the championship for the Déise, leading to his nomination for the awards.
“The club is absolutely delighted for Stephen on getting his award. He has put in a lot of work and his contribution to the Waterford team is absolutely phenomenal, so this is a richly and well-deserved award for him,” Ann Bennett, PRO of Ballysaggart GAA told The Avondhu this week.
“The whole community is thrilled for him and his family. Being the first All-Stars award for a club player is something very special, and we are so proud of his achievement”.
According to Ann, Stephen has been involved with hurling since he was ‘knee high’ and began playing with St Carthage’s in Lismore at school level and played hurling with Blackwater Community School all the way up to Harty Cup level.
With his home club, Ballysaggart, Stephen moved up through the ranks and promptly added to his list of achievements, especially in February 2014 when the club played in the Junior All-Ireland final, which they lost to Creggan Kickhams (Antrim) following a replay.
They later went on to win the intermediate county final and last year became senior for the first time ever.
“Stephen has been a stalwart with Ballysaggart ever since he turned sixteen. He has done a great service for his county in his years,” Ann added.
As part of a sporting family, in 2012 Stephen along with his brothers, Kieran and Shane, were the first three brothers to line out for a county minor team for Waterford.
Amongst Stephen’s many accolades is a 2013 Young Hurler of the Year award, the 2016 Bord Gais Energy U21 Player of the Year award, Senior Hurler of the Year award in 2019 with Waterford, as well as being a part of an All-Ireland winning Waterford minor and U21 hurling team.
While studying at the University of Limerick, Stephen was a part of the 2015 team that won the Fitzgibbon Cup.
DOMINANT LIMERICK
Unsurprisingly, Limerick dominated the final 15 recipients over the weekend, securing a total of nine PwC All-Stars, which is the highest number won by any team.
“Congratulations to the PwC All-Star hurling team of 2020. These selections always generate plenty of debate, but the 15 players selected certainly merit their inclusion for their outstanding performances. Congratulations too, to all the nominees,” said Paul Flynn, GPA CEO.
Ten Waterford hurlers were nominated for the 2020 PwC Hurling All-Stars Awards, which saw Stephen nominated for the Hurler of the Year, alongside Limerick’s Gearóid Hegarty and Clare’s Tony Kelly, with Gearóid taking the award.
Lismore’s Iarlaith Daly, after an outstanding season in 2020, was also nominated for the Young Player of the Year Award, alongside Tipperary’s Jame Morris and Kilkenny’s Eoin Cody, with Eoin Cody securing the award.
“There’s no doubting how tough 2020 was for many people and Gaelic Games were something that uplifted the whole country when it was really needed, with brilliant entertainment, outstanding individual displays and enthralling games. We congratulate all of the winners on the part they played in that and wish them well for the 2021 season,” said Fergal O’Rourke, Managing Partner of PwC.
The announcement was made as part of a special programme to honour all of the PwC All-Stars televised on RTE 1.
The All-Stars team was chosen by a group of 16 Gaelic games correspondents from across print, radio, TV and digital media. While the PwC GAA/GPA Player and Young Player awards were chosen from votes cast by the players themselves.