This article is from page 83 of the 2008-01-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 83 JPG
IT Tralee enter unchartered territory on Wednesday as they contest their first ever match in the Waterford Crystal tournament against Water- ford – with four Clare players on- board. The game marks a huge step for the emerging college and it’s a testament to the work put in over the past few years that they are now seen as one of the top hurling colleges in the province.
Hurling in Tralee IT has steadily improved over the last few years cul- minating in Ryan Cup success last season.
The Ryan Cup is the second tier competition of the Fitzgibbon Cup and to win it last year definitely boosted the hurling profile of the college as GAA Officer Eamon Fit- zgerald explains.
“Winning the Ryan Cup last year was a great achievement and with only four changes from last year’s
team, it will give us a good boost going into this year’s competition. We could have chosen to contest the Fitzgibbon Cup this season, but we feel that our players need to establish a firm footing first and as there is still such a big gap between the Fitzgib- bon and Ryan cups, it would be easy to fall back 1f we weren’t careful.”
A benefit of this success has been the attraction of more hurlers to the college and in addition, there are currently four Clare natives on the IT Tralee side: Stephen Kelly (New- market-on-Fergus) at centre-back, Stephen Guilfoyle (Eire Og) and Ja- son Murphy (Sixmilebridge) lining out in the full-back line while Eire Og’s Thomas Downes will be based in the forwards. Fitzgerald is quick to compliment the hurling talent that is now being attracted to the college, including an increasing Clare contin- ele
“The fact that we have been invited to take part in the Waterford Crystal
Cup shows how much the standard of hurling has improved in the College. This year we have four Clare lads on our hurling panel and they have strengthened and brought valuable experience into the squad.”
IT Tralee’s debut in the Waterford Crystal competition couldn’t have been any harder by drawing Munster champions Waterford but rather than dwell on such daunting opposition, Fitzgerald sees the game as a ben- eficial learning experience for the young side.
“The Waterford Crystal cup is a fantastic opportunity for the lads to play against players of the calibre of Dan Shanahan.”
“It will certainly be a learning curve for the lads and more impor- tantly it will give them valuable ex- perience for the future”.