BY SEÁN HOLLAND
KATE NOLAN will always be known as the trailblazer who captained Sacred Heart Secondary School Clonakilty to their first-ever Munster Schools Girls Junior Cup title.
The Clon school defeated Coláiste Muire Ennis 20-10 in the final in March to claim the crown for the first time. As the 18-year-old Leaving Cert student prepares for her biggest test yet, Nolan, along with her teammates, have already passed a huge test on the rugby field.
‘It was sheer joy,’ Nolan said on being able to lift the Munster Senior Cup on behalf of her school.
‘We weren't really expecting to win the final. It was only the second year that we had rugby in the school.
‘The junior team had gone out before us and they were after winning their Munster title so I guess there was a lot of pressure at the start of the game for us. To get over the line at the end, it was just an unreal feeling.’
The Clonakilty native only started playing rugby two and a half years ago, but has already achieved so much – she puts a lot of credit down to the work done by Clonakilty RFC.
The Sacred Heart Secondary School team that won the Munster Schools Girls Senior Cup final were presented with their medals by Damien Hicks, Munster Rugby. Back from left, Rachel Twomey, Orla Whelton, Ella O’Sullivan, Annabel Tapia, Clodagh McCarthy, Alison Brennan and Roxy Llewellyn. Middle from left, Ann-Marie Brosnan (principal), Eabha Egan, Sara O’Sullivan, Aoife Godwin-Coombes, Alison McCarthy, Leona Arrxa, Amy Giles, Emer Moroney, Brendan Walsh (vice principal) and Damien Hicks (Munster Rugby). Front from left, Eoin Hurley (Clonakilty RFC Chairman), Kate Burton, Eavan Boyle, Kate Nolan, Charlotte McCabe, Orlaith Finn, Isais Bordain, and Dominic Kelleher (teacher and rugby coach). (Photo: Paddy Feen)
‘There was only a school team because of the amount of people playing with Clon rugby club. The club has been giving equal opportunities to the girls and to the boys; that shows with the number of girls that are playing rugby because they're getting their fair chance,’ she said.
‘Through that I went to the principal and vice principal numerous times to ask to set up a team to expose the talent that is in Clon. We wanted the chance to play with the school to show our talent – and we did,’ she beamed.
Her teammate, Clodagh McCarthy, a fourth-year student and the youngest member of the senior panel, echoed the views of her captain, lauding the work done by the local club.
‘Without the club, the success with the school wouldn't have happened,’ McCarthy said.
‘When you look at it, the club walked so the school could run. The success of the school was built on the foundations that the club put down. Most of our skills and our basics, they were all in such good shape because we were constantly playing matches with the Clonakilty club side.
‘Then it was easier for Mr Barry and Mr Kelleher to come in, just fine-tune it and put their own twists on it in terms of strategy and set moves and plays like that. The club helps to build a foundation and keep our skills in check.’
Not only have the girls in the Sacred Heart found success on the field, but they’ve also found friends for life. That’s the power of sport and the influence it has had on these girls.
‘For example, our captain Kate Nolan, before the school’s team, we probably wouldn't have spoken, but now we'd be really good friends,’ McCarthy noted. ‘It was such a bonding experience for everyone and not just the players, even the supporters who came up and supported us in Virgin Media Park on the day of the final.
‘There was a buzz around the school. School rugby didn't just bring together the players, it brought together the community within the school.’
The recent success in Sacred Heart has really put girls' rugby on the map in Clon and will help bear fruit into the future. Nolan explains the impact it has had and will have on girls in the school going forward.
‘It was a group effort and I definitely think that rugby for girls has changed in Clon. It's up and coming, and we can see that with the junior team and with the first years that I definitely do think it's in a better place. Girls now have a chance to play rugby for their school, not just for their club as well,’ Nolan added.
