KEVIN Cotter is a man who has given his all to Skibbereen hurling, being a member of the long-lasting team of the past 15 years that has kept hurling alive in the club.
Father time finally caught up with many of that O’Donovan Rossa team and on Saturday only four of last season’s team lined out against Lough Rovers in this season’s county junior B opener. Cotter was one of the missing players as he decided at the end of the season, for various reasons, that his time as a player had come to an end.
But Cotter has Skibbereen hurling in his blood and wanted to put something back into the club. As it turned out, God never closes a door but opens a window and when the hurling manager Alan Keane stepped up to the position of club chairperson at the end of 2024, vacating the position of hurling manager, Cotter, with the full support of an enthusiastic wife, decided to take up the job.
Even though he is now living in Bandon and has a young family with the eldest just starting his U5 career with Bandon, Cotter has made the transition to life outside the white line.
‘This is my first season in charge, a big difference from being a player,’ says an enthusiastic Cotter.
‘There’s a big commitment, much more stressful than just being a player. (On Saturday) we had only four lads that started the championship last year. The two O’Drisciolls (Colm and Kevin) came in and we had nine lads starting their first championship match. Feighlim Dignan came in from Kilmeen, the rest are all Skibb.’
There comes a time when you have to look to the future, bring in young lads
Cotter is around long enough to realise that if hurling is to stay alive and well in Skibbereen, then the effort must start at underage level. Get the kids playing and develop it from there. For a good few years, Skibb underage hurling has been part of a combined team called St Patrick’s, with a number of neighbouring clubs involved. Now they have ventured out on their own.
‘The underage is going very well, it is now just O’Donovan Rossa,’ explains Cotter.
‘The mentors are doing fantastic work, great numbers from U6 upwards. It’s very positive. We have every grade covered but numbers are thin at minor – we’ll struggle to field a minor team, but only this season.
‘With many clubs, they do 50-50, football and hurling, in training and we have to aspire to that, too. Of course, the footballers want to develop their game, too, but with Alan (Foley) in the school doing great work with Sciath na Scol, and a new chairman who was the hurling manager, the future is looking much brighter for our underage hurling. It’s good for kids to play both.’
O'Donovan Rossa's Jason Nott and Micheál O'Donovan combine to tackle Lough Rovers' Diarmuid Ward. (Photo: Paddy Feen)
As he faces into his first, challenging year as hurling manager, what does Cotter view as his biggest problem right now?
‘The future is looking very bright but we now have to face the present junior problems of building a new team,’ says a realistic Cotter.
‘We have a few lads from Drimoleague who never played underage, never played championship hurling, so there is a lot of work to be done on basic skills. Our problem over the past few years was the advancing age of the team, probably pushing beyond the mid-30s. There comes a time when you have to look to the future, bring in young lads and that’s the main challenge facing us now.
‘With a new team and a new set-up, we don’t have any big goals, just taking one game at a time. We have a lot of work to do but it’s a building process and hopefully, down the line, in three or four years’ time, you will see the results with these lads. It is definitely a work in progress right now.’
