Maeve named as a 'Rising Star'
Ballyduff Upper's Maeve Daly has been named amongst the Yoplait Higher Education ‘ Rising Stars’ team.
The Yoplait HEC AllStars and Rising Stars have been announced following the conclusion of the 2022 Yoplait HEC Championships after seven competitions came to a conclusion over the course of three days earlier this month at Dublin City University.
The Yoplait Rising Stars recognise the efforts of players in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh tier competitions.
As one of five MTU Cork students announced under the Yoplait Rising Stars for 2022, local student Maeve said she ‘started crying’ when she heard that she had been nominated for the awards.
“I started crying. I train a lot for the team as well as for the county with Waterford, so I’ve missed out on a lot of socialising. Being nominated for something like this makes playing football worth it. There’s not a lot of opportunities in football, outside of playing for the county, so something like this is really motivating,” Maeve told The Avondhu.
Maeve first became involved in the sport when she was around the age of six when she began playing with her local club Ballyduff, who she still plays with.
According to Maeve, her interest in football mainly comes from her family, particularly her father, Seamus Daly, who is chairperson of the Ballyduff Upper Ladies Football Club.
“I’ve two sisters and they play GAA as well. There was no camogie team in Ballyduff Upper when we were small, so it was mostly football we played, and dad loves football too,” Maeve said.
SPECIAL MTU TEAM BOND
Currently, she plays ladies Gaelic football with Ballyduff Upper Ladies Football Club, MTU, as well as for the Waterford ladies senior team.
With MTU, the season saw some significant changes for Maeve on the pitch as she was moved from the full forward position to centre forward, changing her own tactics and making her rely more on teammates for scores.
“With college, it’s higher stakes than it is with the local club as everyone is just as good as each other, but you can also depend on everyone in your team. At Cork MTU, we’re all such a close team and all the girls are so lovely. We all go out together after matches, and that’s helped a lot with the socialising aspect. I don’t think I’ve ever found a team I gel so well with,” Maeve added.