Setanta to play first ever adult Championship game this weekend

It’s a big weekend for Setanta who play their first adult game this week. Based out of the Presentation College, they have had juvenile teams in both Hurling and Camogie since 2011 but as numbers grew and kids got older, a need for an adult team developed. There will be big hopes for the team when they kick off their league season away to Ballinkillen on Sunday.

Captain, Liam Kenny says it’s exciting times for the club. 

“It’s our first year so it’s a novelty for a lot of lads. It’s a huge milestone for us to have that pathway for our juveniles coming through to have our first men’s adult team, we’ve had a Camogie team for the last number of years and now we have two which is great for the club for the juveniles to have that pathway for them to come through and really push forward for the next few years. It will be momentous [to play their first game], the first competitive game we played in the Bolger Shield was a big thing and this is even bigger because it’s Championship and it’s our level so it’s a big milestone for the club.” 

“It’s something we’re all proud of in the club to step forward. A lot of the lads in the team are very steeped in the club, a lot of us are juvenile coaches from nursery all the way up so we see each other in training and then at juvenile games as well so it’s a nice tight group. It’s great, there’s a great atmosphere coming into it. It’s brilliant for the club and the feedback we’ve gotten from good Hurling people through the league was brilliant, they’d be nothing but welcoming to us, to see another club from Carlow fielding a team. It’s great for the bigger picture, which is county level which you’d be hoping to feed lads into. That’s where we want to go and make Hurling stronger in Carlow, the Northern half of Carlow needs to catch up, we know how strong it is in the South. We just want to compete, get the team onto the field, get through all our games. We have to be realistic with it being our first year, you see the likes of Burren Rangers who have gone up, it took them a number of years to get out of the Junior so we’re just looking to compete and represent ourselves and represent the jersey and the club as well as we can in every single game.” 

He says pre-season was tough but it was great to get games under their belt. 

“We’ve been going well, we were in the Bolger Shield, a higher level than would be the Championship but we got a nice few games under our belts and lads were training away so it’s all very positive. Yeah of course it is [going to make us better playing against better opposition], we kinda had to tell ourselves just get through these games and treat them as Challenge Matches, because they’re at a higher level, so we can really look forward to putting our best foot forward in the Championship now.” 

They are in good hands with their manager familiar to many across Carlow GAA circles. 

“Adrian Corcoran is the manager, Adrian and his father Tommy and his family are steeped in Carlow GAA, everyone would know them. Adrian has been around the scene with U20’s county teams and minors for a number of years so Adrian is a very steady influence for us, and he’s a great figurehead for us.”