Award just the spur for O’Reilly to pursue dream

ORLA O’REILLY may take up the offer of a basketball scholarship at a US University after sitting her Leaving Certificate in June, but she says receiving yesterday’s Irish Examiner Junior Sports Star Award will spur her on to achieve even more in the future.

O’Reilly yesterday followed in the footsteps of her brother, Colin (2001 winner), in picking up a national award for excellence in her chosen sport following a memorable 2007 season during which her club, Team Montenotte Glanmire, won under-18 and under-20 national cups.

“To receive this is particularly special because my brother got it a few years ago,” said the Blackrock teenager. “It’s such a big award to receive and it’s great to be recognised alongside so many other sports stars in Ireland. They’re all people I’d even recognise even though they play different sports.

“It’s definitely rewarding when you’re getting recognition for what you do and the work you put in. It definitely motivates you.”

O’Reilly’s club on the outskirts of Cork city is now regarded as one of the best in the country following a stunning sequence of results over the last few seasons. O’Reilly, who usually plays guard, is proud to be associated with Team Montenotte Glanmire, which has helped build her profile nationally. The secret to Team Montenotte’s success?

“It comes down to hard work,” says O’Reilly. “We were lucky now to have such a great team. I was surprised we didn’t make the breakthrough earlier. But there are many great people working in the club who give of their time selflessly. One thing the club has in abundance is team spirit. You can’t bottle and sell that.”

The Cork teenager is busy preparing for her Leaving, but, before taking her exams in June, she will be jetting off with Ireland’s U-18s to Macedonia for an international tournament.

“Locally I’ve a few local leagues to finish off and then it’s onto the internationals. We’ve a pretty good team this year. We’ve a lot of the players back from two years ago. We should do well especially after last year when we came first.”

Thrilled to receive the award from such an iconic figure in Alex Ferguson, she found great inspiration in his words, and felt one of the most successful managers ever in football touched on important truths for those who harbour ambitions in making it to the top.

“He mentioned having talent is not everything. He said you must put in the hard graft and make sacrifices to succeed. What he achieved came by sacrifice. There’s a lesson there for us and I found his speech inspirational.”