Graduation day for the boys of Cork IT

THE wheel has come full circle. When Cork IT took their first tentative steps into Cork senior hurling championship waters back in 2001, it was a grim experience.

Carrigtwohill was the scene of their devastation when Sarsfields administered a heavy beating, over 20 points separating the teams at the final whistle.

Now a decade on, there is neat symmetry in the fact it is Carrigtwohill who stand between the students and a place on the roll of honour for the first time. They may not slip neatly into the parish ethos that defines the GAA but as he has gone around their Bishopstown campus this week, the college’s GAA officer Keith Ricken has still detected a sense of anticipation ahead of tomorrow’s showdown.

“I can’t stress enough what a huge honour it is for us to be in the final. There’s a big buzz around the place. People had the hindsight in 1910 and 1911 to be thinking about putting third level sides into competitions to help raise the profile. We find little animosity. Okay, there might one or two individuals who might say on the day that you have star-studded sides. But I think it’s very one dimensional for people to say that. You must look at the bigger picture.

“We’re providing Gaelic games for students, not students for Gaelic games. That’s our philosophy and will continue to be our motto. Our biggest achievements are in October every year, when our students graduate and get their degrees. That’s their greatest honour. Gaelic games help them to stay here sometimes and give them a release.”

Ricken is eager to clear up a few theories floating around about their setup.

He sees tomorrow’s final appearance as a reward for the hard graft the players have put in on and off the field in furthering CIT as a hurling club.

Their full-back Eoin Dillon has served as chairman of the hurling club for the past few years with centre-back Ross Cashman as treasurer. Captain Lorcan McLoughlin is set to take over the reins from Dillon shortly. The work they do in those positions helps the club stand on a stable financial footing and provides all the elements that create the environment in which they can prosper.

“We’re in a county final, not because Keith Ricken wants to be in a county final or the college itself wants to be in a county, but because the officers of the club want to be in a county final. The lads this year raised about €8,000 for charity and they also raised between €60,000 and €70,000 for the club, just to keep it afloat. We live in a time of budget cuts and the lads must learn how to run a club. They travel to matches at their own expense and buy their own hurleys. They’ll say we saved money, so we can have a physio at our training sessions, a doctor at games and sandwiches to eat after training. We’ve about 40-plus people involved in our club who are not students. And we have another 30-40 people who are students all of whom have jobs to do, no matter how big or small.

“Everyone gets one little job and they do it well.”

Despite all that unstinting effort into developing Gaelic Games, academic affairs are never parked.

“All the staff I’ve dealt with are very supportive of the lads,” reveals Ricken. “It’s the same with us, because if players are not attending class or whatever, then we won’t give them the opportunity to play Gaelic games. It’s a two-way street. In the last few years we ran a pilot project with some of our brightest students who’ve gone out to clubs in the city and county where lads might have been struggling with Leaving Cert maths. We afforded lads the opportunity to be taught by the likes of Daniel Goulding, who gave up their time to do this voluntarily.”

They are in a healthy position entering tomorrow’s final yet Ricken is equally enthused about the achievement of tomorrow’s opponents Carrigtwohill. Ricken lives in the East Cork town and has helped the club out on occasions over the years.

Coming into contact with people like Carrigtwohill native Frank Flannery who trained the CIT Fitzgibbon Cup team a couple of years ago has furthered his knowledge of their progress.

“One thing is certain this year, I would have made money in all the games involving Carrigtwohill. I live there and I know the potential.

“They’re in the county final, not because they were lucky, but because they’ve good hurlers and because of all the work at underage level.

“We will be happy and honoured to beat them by a point or two.”