BY GER MCCARTHY
A NEW season of SFAI National Inter-League Schoolboys competitions kicks off this weekend and the West Cork Academy will be heavily involved as the Munster sections get underway. This year’s U12 Schoolboys age-grade sees West Cork with a tricky away visit to Limerick Desmond. The former will have home advantage for the visit of Cork United on November 16th or 17th. Limerick County visit West Cork on the weekend of December 7th and 8th and the rural region will conclude their opening phase away to Clare on the second weekend of January.
Limerick Desmond visit the West Cork Academy this coming weekend for a provincial SFAI Inter-League U13 Schoolboys opener. West Cork are on the road to take on Limerick County in the middle of November before rounding off a four-team group by hosting Cork United on December 7th or 8th.
Shane Hough’s U13 squad has also been selected to compete in the Surf Cup International 2024 tournament in Salou in Tarragona near Barcelona. Ahead of that competition’s draw, the West Cork Academy will be in the hat alongside Athletic Bilbao, Manchester City, Leicester City, and Lyon.
The West Cork Academy’s U14 squad have been drawn against Cork, Kerry and Limerick Desmond in their SFAI Munster Inter-League group. Limerick Desmond visit this weekend before the rural academy travel to Kerry on November 16th or 17th and finish off their opening phase at home to Cork on the first weekend in December.
This U14 Schoolboys squad will also travel to University of Limerick next summer and represent their region in the prestigious Kennedy Cup. This past summer, Eamonn Bradfield and Jack O’Sullivan’s West Cork side finished sixth overall out of 31 competing schoolboys leagues from all four corners of the island. Four wins and two losses plus a Kennedy Plate final appearance was a terrific return. This year’s squad will use their SFAI Munster Inter-League competition as well as Smart Football and the Clare Cup to build towards next June’s trip to Limerick.
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Other positive West Cork Academy developments sees both the U15 and U16 Schoolboys squads fielding in this year’s SFAI Munster Inter-League competitions. Dates and venues are yet to be decided but West Cork’s U15s will face Cork, Kerry, and Waterford. The region’s U16 Schoolboys travel to Cork this coming weekend and finish off their provincial group at home to Limerick County (November 16th/17th) and Kerry (December 7th/8th).
Last season, the West Cork Academy U16s competed alongside Manchester United, Brighton and Hove Albion, Barcelona Dubai and Rangers at the prestigious Super Cup in Northern Ireland. Victory over Barcelona Dubai and a 12th overall placed finish were the highlights of the West Cork Academy’s first ever Super Cup Northern Ireland appearance.
That appearance capped off a campaign in which West Cork U16s claimed the SFAI All- Ireland National U16 Schoolboys Shield with a 3-0 win over Dundalk and the Munster U16 Schoolboys Trophy on penalties at the expense of Waterford.
Don and JJ Hurley’s U15’s emulated their U16 counterparts by winning the SFAI Munster U15 Schoolboys Trophy, a 4-0 defeat of Clare, and having earlier claimed the SFAI All-Ireland National U15 Schoolboys Shield.
