Munster award-winners revealed

High achievement on and off the field was rewarded at the annual MBIHA Awards, held at Garryduff last night, with Men’s Player of the Year Clinton Sweetnam (above) among the winners.

The awards were voted for by the Munster hockey public, and a full run-down is included below. If anyone has pictures of the winners from the night, please forward them to munsterhockeyblog(at)gmail(dot)com and I will include them here.

Keep an eye out on Southern Fried over the coming weeks (or whenever I get my exams finished) for my own end-of-season awards!

C of I's Nick Burns (U18 Player of the Year) and Clinton Sweetnam (Senior Player of the Year) show off their awards.

John Moloney (Quins/Fermoy/Munster Junior men) was named Manager of the Year, having brought success to almost every team he has been involved with.

He won a Munster Senior League and Cup double with Cork Harlequins women, and the Division Three title with Fermoy, whom he also guided to the final of the Irish Challenge for the second year in succession.

Moloney also Took the reins of the Munster junior men’s team at short notice, and was just a whisker away from winning the tournament on home turf at Harlequin Park.

Eddie Gash (Quins/BGS/various Munster teams) claimed the Coach of the Year award, after a season in which he was one of the busiest coaches in the province.

Gash had Cork Harlequins women’s firsts and Bandon Grammar’s senior women under his tutelage, while he was also taken on managerial duties with the Munster senior and junior men and U16 girls.

He won a 15th straight Munster league title with Quins – and a first Munster Senior Cup since 2007 – and has guided them to the last four of the IHL for the second successive season, in his first year at the helm.

Caroline McHugh (BGS and Munster Coaching Committee) was named Development Coach of the Year, following a season in which BGS have won Junior A Plate, U15 League and are in final of Junior B League and Cup.

She is also currently involved in the IHA programme Talent ID & has been very involved in the Munster Cheetahs’ programme.

The winners of the Umpire of the Year award were Malcolm Coombes and Catriona Hassey.

Malcolm is one of the best young umpires in Munster at just 18 years of age, and is something of a role model for younger umpires, and has taken on a role with the MHUA which will see him aid the development of future whistle-blowers.

He umpired his first major final this year when taking charge of the Munster Senior Cup final between Catholic Institute and Cork C of I and handled the task with aplomb.

Cork Harlequins winners with Munster branch Pat Sargent (far left). L-R: Karen Bateman (Senior Player of the Year), Eddie Gash (Coach of the Year), Cliodhna Sargent (First-team captain, with Div 1 cup), John Moloney (Manager of the Year) and Yvonne O'Byrne (U18 Player of the Year).

Catriona has taken charge of matches at all levels this term, including the senior, U21 and U18 women’s interprovincials at Grange Road, and in the Irish Hockey League. She also oversaw one of the Irish Senior Cup semi-finals, as well as the 2009 Irish Junior Cup final.

Unique in Munster hockey, as she is the only player to be involved in all 15 of Cork Harlequins’ successive Munster league title triumphs, Karen Bateman claimed the Women’s Player of the Year prize.

Age has not dimmed her commitment and passion for top-level hockey, and she remains one of the best performers in the national game, with many believing she would still be a shoo-in for the Irish side had she not long since departed the international stage after a glittering career in green.

A constant source of goals for Quins and every defender’s nightmare, she will go down as one of Irish hockey’s all-time greats.

Clinton Sweetnam (Cork C of I) won the Men’s Player of the Year award, having fitted seamlessly into the Cork C of I setup since his summer move at Bandon, despite sometimes necessitating a positional switch.

A former Ireland U18 international who is a model of consistency for every side he has played for, Clinton has been one of the driving factors behind C of I’s Munster treble, which included the retention of their league title as well as the Munster Senior and Peard cups.

Yvonne O’Byrne (Cork Harlequins) was named Women’s U18 Player of the Year, a just reward for one of the most precocious young talents in Munster, whose mature performances for her province at U18 level in the past two seasons have seen her rewarded with a well-deserved Ireland U18 call-up.

A regular at right back in the Cork Harlequins first team, Yvonne was also an inspirational captain to Mount Mercy, whom she led to the Munster Senior Schoolgirls Cup final.

Renowned as one of the toughest and most fearless competitors in Munster hockey despite her tender years, with no shortage of skill to match, both in attack and defence.

Nick Burns (Cork C of I) claimed the Men’s U18 Player of the Year prize, hardly a surprise as he is one of most exciting talents in Irish hockey, as evidenced by his nomination for Irish U18 player of the year.

Ger O'Carroll of Catholic Institute accepts her Volunteer of the Year award from MBIHA president Pat Sargent.

Having been a vital member of the 2009 Irish Junior Cup-winning side, he has enjoyed a treble-winning breakthrough season with C of I’s firsts, and scored in three of their five Irish Hockey League matches.

Burns is arguably the best young forward in Munster, possessing all the attributes from physicality to stickwork, as well as a mean drag-flick. He also was a leading light in Midleton College’s Munster Senior Schoolboys Cup win, and will be back to help them defend their crown next season.

Catholic Institute have celebrated their centenary year in style, and earned further praise in being named Club of the Year. Their women’s side produced their best league placing in years by coming third behind Quins and UCC, earning the right to contest the IHL wildcard playoffs this weekend.

They also made up for last year’s Irish Trophy final loss by going all the way this time round, defeating Greenfields 3-1 in the final.

The women and men’s sides also reached and hosted their respective Munster Senior Cup finals, but luck wasn’t on their side on the day, while the men also got to a Peard Cup final.

They are one of Munster’s leading lights in terms of the development of top-class young players, with Naomi Carroll, Roisin Upton and Rebecca Barry all earning international recognition in the past couple of years.

A further boon for Institute came when their women’s firsts coach Ger O’Carroll was named Volunteer of the Year, for her role as an administrator and ambassador for her club in hosting both the Munster Senior Cup & Senior Schools final and other Munster cup finals this season.

She also won praise for her “diligence with her stream of fixtures, results & correspondence throughout the season” and her coaching and umpiring achievements and contribution to schools hockey in Laurel Hill Colaiste.

Caroline McHugh accepts her Development Coach of the Year award from MBIHA president Pat Sargent.

Midleton College were named Boys School of the Year, after a remarkable season for east Cork school saw them emerge from the shadows of Bandon Grammar and Ashton to claim the Munster Senior Schoolboys Cup for the first time since 1990, defeating the latter 3-2 in a thrilling decider at Garryduff.

They also added the U16 crown for good measure, again vanquishing Ashton in the final by the same scoreline, as well as the minor title.

Ivan Leopold, Clive Seale and the rest of the coaching staff have helped nurture something of a golden generation, which includes talents such as Nick Burns, Adam O’Callaghan, Greg Chambers and Andrew Colton, who will all surely go on to become top-quality club players when their schooldays are over.

Crescent College claimed the Girls School of the Year prize, after a superb team ethic helped form the nucleus of a wonderful Munster Senior Schoolgirls Cup-winning side, guided superbly by coach Ollie O’Connor to a 3-1, extra-time victory over Mount Mercy in a tense final at Rosbrien.

While Roisin Upton was the lynchpin of the side, her influence was superbly augmented by the talents of the likes of defensive rocks Geena Kinevane and Eimear McManus, and two-goal Orla Hickey.

While their Kate Russell All-Ireland Schoolgirls campaign failed to produce a spot in the final, though they finished on a high with a comprehensive defeat of Salerno.

Five Special Merit awards were also handed out. Mona Sexton (Fermoy) was among them for her vision in harnessing the north Cork town’s community in the fundraising and building of the club’s next astroturf pitch. She has also overseen the setting up of the club’s junior section, whose numbers have no grown to 100 girls aged 8-16.

David Wolfe (Cork C of I) was honoured for his all-round contribution to life at Garryduff, where he plays, umpires and is coach to two women’s teams and the U15 boys and girls, winning the ladies Division Five and Five/Six cups.

Ivy Dennis (Bandon) needs little introduction to the Munster hockey fraternity, having filled roles across the sport’s spectrum, this season as Munster Branch management committee chairperson, among others.

Southern Fried is particularly indebted to Ivy for diverting to Ballincollig late in the evening after a long drive from Dublin to deliver a batch of IHL programmes for UCC, a sign of her generosity and willingness to go the extra mile to help others.

Rose Rose (Cork C of I) is an honorary life member at her club, reflecting the high regard in which she is held in Rochestown.

She has dedicated her life to the youth of her club, where she has provided a service above and beyond the call of duty in providing structures for the youth of her club.

Nicky Stokes (Cork C of I) receives a special merit award at the C of I ladies AGM for all the various “hats” that she wears in Garryduff.

She umpires, organises min-hockey on Sundays for the girls, a big blitz, manages the Division 2 Ladies team and organised the trip to Cheltenham in March for 28 U-15 girls. Nicky is also the Children Protection Officer on the MBIHA committee.

For more pictures from the Munster Hockey Awards, click here. Thanks to Pat Sargent for the pictures, if you have any more which you’d like to add to the Flick set mail me on munsterhockeyblog(at)gmail.com.