It was a case of third time’s the charm for captain Fiona O’Sullivan and her DCU Lynch Cup winning team last weekend.
Speaking exclusively to The College View, O’Sullivan told us just what it takes to lead a team of champions.
“We sat down at the start of the year with the entire panel and decided that this year we were going to win the Lynch Cup.
“From my perspective, I’m in final year and I’ve been trying to win a Lynch Cup since first year. There are about four other girls on the team who are in their final year, but there’s also a good mixture of first and second years too.”
Preparation, it seems, was key to their victory of the team as well as the visualisation of their success.
“We had a lot of intense training sessions down in St Clare’s, every Monday and Wednesday.
“There were a lot of challenge matches in the run up to the tournament as well, so we were well prepared. We were used to playing with each other and we started developing a lot of set plays.”
In the new world of sports psychology and training, success and motivation are no longer rooted in the individual desire to win. It’s about the team.
O’Sullivan echoed these sentiments and talked about some of their less than conventional methods of relationship building.
“There was a lot of team bonding as well. We went to ‘Jumpzone’ in Santry and believe it or not that actually helped us grow as a team.
“It was important that we got to know each other well and that we all became really good friends, it was probably the cornerstone to our success.”
Having the right team on the pitch is important, but the behind the scenes is where the sacrifice was made. Tracy Harrington, the team’s nutritionist, was a key figure throughout the year, she says.
The match itself was a hard fought victory, six points the winning margin in an enthralling encounter.
“There was huge intensity in the match against DIT. Any game we go into facing them, it’s always physical and it’s more than just winning the game, it’s the bragging rights for all the Dublin teams.
“Even as the final whistle went we were still under savage pressure, they gave us a serious battle. But the girls put up a massive fight and showed real heart and determination.”
For the team though, it will go down as one of the most rewarding achievements, down to the fact that it was three years in the waiting.
The remaining panel will next year compete in the Giles Cup and for the parting members of the team, it will be a legacy left in DCU sporting history.
Despite the loss of the O’Connor Cup side this year, it appears DCU GAA is in the ascendancy with Sigerson and now Lynch Cup success.
Cian Roche
Image Credit: Sportsfile
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