Rebel Óg awards: Cork's best young GAA players hailed as Douglas land top prize
Douglas minor players celebrate after they were presented with the overall trophy at the Rebel Óg annual banquet by Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Deirdre Forde and Deputy County Mayor Cllr Deirdre O'Brien, at the Clayton Hotel, Silversprings. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
It was a night of celebration at the Clayton Hotel, Silversprings as the annual Rebel Óg awards banquet was held on Friday night.
Underage players across hurling, football, camogie, ladies football and handball were all honoured for their achievements in 2022, with a presentation made to all the monthly winners to mark their success.
More than 330 people attended the banquet as they got the chance to put away hurleys and footballs to relax and enjoy the occasion.
Two special presentations are made on the night as well as a guest of honour to keep all present entertained.
MCs were Ger McCarthy from The Echo and Colm O’Sullivan from RedFM, both media partners, who opened the proceedings by calling on Tracy Newman, general manager of the Clayton Hotel, Silversprings, sponsors of the overall and monthly awards, to welcome all to the banquet.
The first person to be honoured was the Hall of Fame recipient, with Kevin Cummins of Cummins Sports, as the award sponsor.
Like the overall winner, they don’t know until their name is announced who they are and the applause from around the room showed just how popular a choice Denis Hurley from Sarsfields was.
In his speech announcing the winner, Michael Evans, chairperson of the judging panel, said: “This award highlights the culture which lies at the very heart of our association. It gives us an opportunity to shine a light on the ethos of volunteerism that underpins every aspect of our activities.
"On the playing front, he won two senior County hurling championship medals in 1951 and 1957.
“In the inter-county arena, our recipient was a Cork hurling selector with various Cork teams from 1966 to 1997. During his period as a selector Cork won four senior All-Ireland hurling titles, eight Munster championships and one National League title.”
The other award on the night went to the Douglas minor sides who were named overall winner for the year from the monthly recipients. They were picked for winning the Premier 1 minor double, an achievement last done 20 years ago and they were also the first club to do so since Rebel Óg was formed.
The night was rounded off with a Q&A with former Cork star Eoin Cadogan, who as well as recalling his playing days with the county, had some advice for the young players present around nutrition and other parts of training.
A great night was had, with all looking forward to next year’s event already.
