KATIE O’Driscoll has described the fixture congestion that will see five Carbery dual camogie players take part in three championship games in less than 28 hours as ‘crazy’.
The Cork senior footballer and her Clonakilty team-mates Niamh Kennedy, Aoife O’Flynn-Meade and Sinéad Crowley – along with Carbery colleague Claire Kingston – face a relentless weekend schedule.
On Saturday, Clonakilty meet Ballinhassig in a county premier intermediate camogie quarter-final in Newcestown (2.30pm). Less than 24 hours later, Clon’s footballers travel to St Val’s for a crunch senior championship Group 1 tie (12pm), before the Carbery camogie team faces Blackrock in a county senior preliminary quarter-final at Castle Road (6pm).
Kingston’s weekend is even more demanding. On Saturday evening she lines out with Newcestown against Brian Dillons in a premier intermediate camogie quarter-final in Ballygarvan (5.30pm). The following day she features for Rosscarbery footballers in an intermediate tie against Abhainn Dalla in Kanturk (12pm), before joining Carbery for the Blackrock clash.
‘It’s three games in 28 hours,’ a frustrated O’Driscoll told The Southern Star.
‘It’s crazy when you consider these are all high-grade matches – two at senior level and one at premier intermediate.
‘This is the knock-out part of the season. They’ll be extremely physical and tiring, and it’s asking too much of players to play three huge games in such a short time.
‘The girls in the club have been training since January to reach this stage, and for it all to be crammed into one weekend is hard to believe.’
Clon’s dual stars aren’t the only ones affected. Cork camogie senior Millie Condon, Moira Barrett and Clara Crowley are also facing three games. They play with Ballinascarthy camogie against Valley Rovers in the intermediate championship on Friday evening in Newcestown, before lining out for both Clon football and Carbery camogie on Sunday.
The Southern Star understands that both Clonakilty LGFA and Clonakilty Camogie Club have written to their respective county boards – Cork LGFA and Cork Camogie – to express their ‘utter dismay’ at the weekend schedule. Both clubs have stressed that this is a player welfare issue, insisting no athlete should be expected to play three matches in 28 hours.
‘It is putting these dedicated players at serious risk of injury due to the congestion of fixtures,’ the clubs warned.
It’s also understood that once Clonakilty Camogie became aware of the fixture pile-up last weekend, they attempted to have their premier intermediate quarter-final pushed back to when Cork LGFA has no fixtures, but their plea fell on deaf ears.
The Cork LGFA senior Group 1 game between Clon and St Val’s was fixed earlier in the summer.
‘These are the three biggest club games we’ve played this year,’ O’Driscoll explained.
‘It’s a county premier intermediate quarter-final, a county senior preliminary quarter-final and an important senior football tie that decides where we finish in the group.
‘You can understand why players drop out of one sport and choose the other – you can’t be expected to perform at your best on a weekend like this.’
Only last Sunday, Clon’s dual players were on the brink of playing two senior games on the same day.
They were in county senior football action against county champions Aghada at noon in Ahamilla, and were due to line out for Carbery camogie against Avondhu at 3.45pm in Castle Road – until Avondhu conceded that morning.
‘We were ready to leave straight after the football,’ O’Driscoll recalled.
‘We had our gear in the car, and planned to refuel on the way to Castle Road so we could go straight on the pitch when we got there.’
O’Driscoll added: ‘I know midweek games aren’t ideal, but I’d prefer that than play three matches in less than 30 hours.’
Given the stakes, this fixture chaos has become a distraction. Carbery management have already adjusted preparations, to allow players to concentrate on their club sessions instead.
‘This is a huge game for Carbery camogie, but the management understands how busy we are with club commitments,’ O’Driscoll added.
‘We had Clon camogie training on Tuesday, then football training on Thursday, and now it’s straight into the weekend games.’
