SHELIA GOLDEN is regularly referred to as the “mammy of camogie.”

And she was a very fitting recipient of the Hall of Fame accolade at The Echo Women In Sport awards at the Cork Airport Hotel.

Given her years of hard-working service to the sport of camogie on Leeside, this is a richly deserved award.

Although she does hold provincial honours with her county, it was through her work as an administrator that she is best known, where she has had a remarkable career.

She held the offices of county chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary, president, as well as a team mentor on numerous occasions.

She set the foundations for this career when she took on the role of secretary of the Cork schools board.

A Cork Camogie chairperson between 1988-2002, outside of her roles with the County Board, Golden served as the chairperson of Inniscarra and also acted as a selector with the club teams.

In March 2012 Cork Camogie opened their own pitch in Castle Road, a facility which they could call their own.

That was a dream for people like Sheila Golden and that dream became a reality when the pitch was opened by camogie president Joan O’Flynn.

When she was announced as the winner for this particular accolade, Golden was deservingly given a standing ovation.

Giving her thoughts on picking up the Hall of Fame Award, Golden said: “I would like to remember the people that I have worked with over the years, marvellous people and marvellous volunteers, my parents and my late husband Tommy.

“Those who I worked with on the County Board over the years, players, mentors, selectors. A lot of those people are no longer with us. I am sure they could never envisage how Cork Camogie proceeded over those years.

“They definitely wouldn’t have dreamed that the Board below on their own headquarters down in Castle Road in Blackrock, with a wonderful pitch and facilities.

“So I would like to thank all of those people, marvellous people and to make wonderful friends. They were always there to help me. I would like to dedicate the award to them as well and to thank The Echo for their help and support all through the years.”

The term legend can often get overused, but there can be no disputing that it is a deserving title to give a true camogie stalwart of Leeside.

It was fitting that the judges of The Echo Women In Sport Awards chose to use this platform to illustrate the fine work in camogie that Golden has undertaken over the years.