KATE Nolan kept her word. When she went knocking on the vice principal’s door at Sacred Heart Secondary School Clonakilty to ask about setting up a girls’ rugby team, Kate had so much confidence it would be a success, she promised they would win silverware.
In just the second year of girls’ rugby in the Clon school, Kate captained Sacred Heart to a breakthrough Munster Schools Girls Senior Cup final triumph (20-10) against Clare outfit Coláiste Muire Ennis last March. Kate and her team-mates delivered at Virgin Media Park on a Wednesday that will live long in the memory.
‘A few of us went knocking on the principal and vice principal’s doors a few times, asking to set up a team. Sacred Heart is a very sporty school, and we told them about the standard of girls’ rugby in Clonakilty, how strong it is and I said we would win something – and I kept my word!’ Kate (18) smiled as she accepted the West Cork Sports Star monthly award for March to mark Sacred Heart’s success.
It was Kate’s last game for the school, given the Leaving Cert student was in her final months walking the corridors of Sacred Heart, but she bowed out in style.
‘For me and the other Leaving Cert girls, it was our last game played in the school jersey so it was a bittersweet moment; it’s nice to go out on a high,’ she says.
‘To finish up at Sacred Heart knowing we have won this cup for the first time is a great feeling and we all hope the school can keep going now.’
Award winner Kate Nolan with Sacred Heart team mates, from left, Clodagh McCarthy, Caoimhe McCarthy and Aoife Goodwin-Coombs.
The signs look good for the Clonakilty school because just before the senior team won the Munster Schools Girls Senior Cup final, the juniors beat Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí 19-0 to win the junior final equivalent. It was a double delight.
‘This was only the second year of rugby in the school and we had been knocked out in the first game in our first year, so it was great to win a double this season,’ Clonakilty teenager Kate explains.
‘We knew going in that the junior team had a good chance of winning whereas we were 50-50 so when they won and we were warming up, it made
us excited to go out and do the same thing, but at the same time knowing it would be a long trip home in the bus if they were cheering in the back and us upset if we had lost. To win the double, that was a great feeling.’
Kate and her team-mates had to dig deep against Coláiste Muire Ennis, twice coming from behind, as Solène Skupiewski, Emer Moroney and Sara O’Sullivan scored crucial tries, and Rachel Twomey kicked a penalty and a conversion to secure a 20-10 triumph.
‘It’s hard to explain that feeling after, we were all stunned,’ Kate admits, as she highlights the role of Clonakilty RFC in the rise of rugby in Sacred Heart.
‘We have to credit Clon RFC, the chances that they give to the girls are the exact same that they give to the lads, and that shines through that if we are given equal opportunities we can give equal results. Clon RFC have allowed that, and the school allowed us to set up a rugby team, and look at the success both the club and school have had.’
