Sars reach for stars having built from ground up

With three county SHC titles since 2008 and another one to be possibly added next Sunday week, Sarsfields are now a bona fide Cork hurling superpower.

It would be easy in times of plenty to ignore the underage structures, but if anything they are only strengthening, as exemplified by county titles won at U16 and minor level, winning the club the September Rebel Óg award.

While the U16 side have beenunbeaten as a group since U13 level, the minors lost county finals to Blackrock at U12, U14 and U16. Adopting the motto of ‘one more step’ all year, then Glanmire side overcame Killeagh/Ita’s after in a replay to ensure they achieved their goal.

With a lot of that side contributing to a team which claimed East Cork honours at U21 level too, the future looks quite secure.

“We’re enjoying success at the moment,” says club chairman Tadhg Murphy, “but we have to provide facilities whether we’re successful or not.

“The whole purpose of the operation is that the underage players today are apprentices and you want to bring them through.

“The win in 2008 started a bit of a buzz in the club and the whole thing took off from there. Nothing has changed in that we always prioritised the underage structure but I suppose we’re reaping the ultimate rewards at the moment.”

Glanmire is quite a populous area, but ensuring it equates to success on the field isn’t an inevitability.

“Numbers don’t guarantee success in any shape or form,” says Murphy. “Where we’ve been fortunate is that we have good structures in place and we get excellent guys in charge of teams. More importantly, they’re very interested and they put good management teams behind them, which is a very big factor.

“The underage club as a whole put in a lot of time and effort, just like the adult club. We work very closely together, along with the camogie club, which is doing very well at the moment too. Ultimately, the whole lot is a big family working in partnership and thankfully things are going well on all fronts right now.”

Senior hurling manager Pat Ryan believes the set-up at the club’s headquarters in Riverstown is another important factor.

“There has been huge work on the facilities,” he said. “The committee, led by Tadhgie Murphy, deserve huge credit for that. It gave people a place to come to and, especially as the population was growing in Glanmire, it made it a popular thing to want to come down and play with Sars.”