Bishopstown's Shane O'Byrne is enjoying life on the line as a coach with UCC

He continues to climb the coaching ladder with an ambition to put his A licence to good use and is currently doing so with UCC men's senior team.

Shane O'Bryne from Bishopstown is in his sixth year with UCC where he has managed and coached the freshers team but is now fully focused as a coach with the senior team. 

A huge passion for the college where he also spent time playing with them, O'Byrne is hoping to play a key part in bringing the Collingwood cup title back to Cork.

UCC will host this years competition and O'Byrne hopes they can achieve success for the first time in years.

"The Collingwood has now been announced for Cork just a year after hosting the Harding Cup last season," said O'Byrne. 

"Hosting the Collingwood this year pays testament to how impressed the Irish Universities Football Union were with the fantastic work our ground staff do in UCC and the organisation skills of the Sports Department along with Greg Yelverton, UCC Soccer Facilitator.

"I'm quite hopeful about this season, although our current placement on the league table may suggest otherwise. 

"While we've had a slightly rocky start, we are starting to see signs that we are turning a corner to get to where we should be. 

"Considering the few unlucky early injuries sustained along with some new players to integrate, at our core is a great cohort of players with massive potential which has begun to shine through. 

"Recently, we topped the College Universities Football League's Premier Group stage for the first time in a few seasons, along with making it to the last 16 of the Intermediate Cup.

"The aim for UCC every year is to emerge victorious, and this year will be no different. 

"It has been a few years now since the College has taken home the Collingwood trophy, and I know some of our final year students will want to finish their college careers on a high. 

"Our preparation for the tournament will be to approach it as focused as possible while ensuring players also enjoy the experience. 

"We won the Farquhar cup last year in Galway but this year we plan on having the Collingwood cup returning to Cork and staying there."

The 34 year-old senior deal desk analyst started his coaching journey in the States but hopes to finish it with an international role at some stage of his career.

"My first exposure to coaching was back in 2011, when I travelled to America for three months all around the Midwest, from Kansas to South Dakota. 

"I knew then it was definitely something I wanted to pursue when the right time came. For the following two summers I lived stateside as part of my Masters degree, and I did some coaching with a local high school team.

"Upon returning to Cork, I went back playing MSL, but unfortunately I had a bad injury. I took that opportunity to work on completing my coaching badges.

"My experience coaching with UCC to date has been amazing, getting to work with grassroots players up to those who have been Irish underage internationals, Irish amateur internationals, or those who have played League of Ireland.

"I already had my C licence completed and when I began with UCC back in 2018. 

"I recently all but completed my A licence, for which I was lucky to get great support from UCC in terms of team availability and facilities. 

"Greg, who is the UCC soccer facilitator, has his UEFA PRO licence and was a great help in terms of providing his own knowledge and experience and being able to give his feedback on assignments. 

"He really pushed me to get to the level I want to be at, for which I'm grateful.

"As far as my own coaching ambitions, these would be to continue to push myself and go as high up the levels as possible. 

"Being a manager in the Munster Senior League premier would be somewhere I hope to be someday, and I would love the experience of coaching in an international setup if such an opportunity arose."