Sarah Kate O’Meara: A fantastic camogie player, great athlete and even better friend and teammate to all

EACH week our camogie column brings news of activities on the playing fields, but this week's column brings huge sadness as I write about the unexpected passing of a young camogie player, one of our own, 18-year-old Sarah Kate O’Meara.

Sarah Kate was not just a young camogie player, but she was a player with my club Glen Rovers and her passing has come as a huge shock to not just all of us in our club but other clubs as well.

Of course, nothing comes close to the upset, and horror suffered by her beloved parents, Diann and Tony, sisters Emily, Isoble and Grace, and her brother James, who also play with our club.

She began playing camogie with our underage academy following in the footsteps of her twin sisters, Emily and Isobel.

It was soon very obvious that she was going to be a star. She was strong and tough and was a player you would want to be on your side. 

Sarah Kate was the player who would go through the wall for you. Give her any job and she would do it without fuss or complaint.

At many underage games down through the years, coaches could be heard giving her a marking job and she was the one to do just that as time out of number she would simply blot the opposition's best player out of a game. 

She progressed through the ranks and played on the Seandún underage teams and was a member of the Cork U14 and U15 panels before a broken collar bone limited the opportunity to progress to the U16 squad. Undeterred, she continued to prosper to become one of the top players on the Glen's minor team, who contested the county final last year.

SHINING LIGHT

This year she really came into her own as a player. All through our senior league campaign, she was one of the shining lights on the team and she had firmly pinned down a place on the starting 15. 

In our minor league campaign, she was to the fore as the team drove on and qualified for the final which was to have been played this week.

Sadly now when it does eventually be played, Sarah Kate will not be with us, but there is no doubt she will be our 16th woman and her teammates and friends will give it their all in her memory to make her proud. 

She loved camogie and she loved her club.

She was a tough, hard opponent, but a sporting one, and was the first to shake an opponent's hand and chat when the whistle went.

She was a great person, that was our Sarah Kate.

Carraig na bhFear Athletic Club was also an important part of her life. 

There, she was a wonderful athlete, giving as always 100% to every event she participated in, and like us, they feel the terrible loss of their beloved club member.

Many tributes were paid to Sarah Kate in the week gone by and the outpouring of sympathy and support from all the other clubs were sincere and so thoughtful. 

The manner in which her Glen Rovers club-mates, friends, work colleagues from her part-time job in Pennys, classmates from Mount Mercy and Carraig Athletic Club members gathered in large numbers on Saturday was a tribute to the girl she was.

The guard of honour provided by our club players, mentors and members showed just how much Sarah Kate and her family mean to our club.

We are heartbroken in Glen Rovers Camogie Club for our beautiful shining star, but she will always be with us and will be there with us at every game we play, her presence will be all around us and she will never, ever be forgotten:

'Suaimhneas síoraí ar a anam...'