News

Camogie: Girls make Club History

November 8, 2018

U11s win first ever Camogie title for Naomh Olaf
Last February Olaf’s u11 Camogie Team set out on their league journey and to date we had 15 wins and 2 draws to our credit. On Saturday morning we had to win this final match to take the Division 2 League title. There was great excitement amongst the girls as they got themselves ready and warmed up . We had played our opposition Whitehall Colmcille earlier in the season and had put in a very strong performance against them. There were 21 very eager but relaxed girls in the dressing room after the team talk, all  longing to win a first camogie title in the clubs 27 year existence. We took to the pitch and it was fantistic to see the large crowd gathering on the sidelines to watch and cheer the girls on. The starting team was named and the game commenced. It took us a few minutes to settle as a number of chances went wide. Some positional changes were made and on the 7th minute we took our first score. Three minutes later we added another. Olafs piled on the pressure and by the 15th minute we had our third score. The team manager was looking for a 4th score before making further changes to ensure all the girls got to play without conceding any scores to the opposition. We got that 4th score on 20th minute. At this age bracket multiple substitutions are allowed and from then to the end of the match every girl had their spell on the sideline as well as one the pitch. By half time we were 6 scores up and the oppostion had yet to really  cause  us  any problems . During the 2nd half we added another 3 scores to our tally and made a wonderful save to keep the opposition scoreless. Everyone of the girls played their part in a marvellous win  and in getting us to this stage. At the final whistle there was jubliation all round. We thanked our opposition for the very sporting match and wished them the best in the championship. Parents took out the cameras and the team photgraph was captured for posterity.  The girls took their trophy on a lap of honour which included our underage academy many who were in Olafs for their first day of coaching. A great day for the the girls and their families and the club.  Alas, our celebrations will be put on hold as we play the quarter final of the championship this coming Sunday. In November we will join the winners of the other camogie leagues at a special presentation where the blue and  claret  of Olafs will be seen for the first time among the well established camogie clubs of Dublin. We will need to use this success as a stepping stone in making camogie an attractive sport for the girls of our community to partake in.

Congratulations to Mary Gibney and her helpers for the effort and dedication to this team. The team panel was as follows: Sadhbh Maher,Jordan Bent, Roisin MacLoughlin, Katie Grimes, Kate Murray,Morgain Reynolds, Jennifer Heckman, Sadie Lanigan,Mairead O’Shea Scanlon, Siobhan Keogh, Emma O’Higgins, Niamh Brennan, Shauna O’Connell, Caoimhe Heckman, Eilis Murphy, Harriet Meagan,Niamh Donnelly, Niamh Lakes, Katie Pollard, Rachel Morris, and Carolyn McGuirk