Beth Carton made history tonight as the Waterford camogie ace was selected as the PwC GPA Senior Camogie Player of the Year for 2023. We believe she's the first Waterford camogie player to win the sport's biggest individual honour. She also picked up a PwC All-Star award for the third time in a gilded career.
It was a memorable season that ended in disappointment for Waterford, as Cork romped home to win their first All-Ireland in five years.
However it was Waterford's first senior camogie final since 1945, and even if the finale was bittersweet, it was an unforgettable season.
Carton has been the driving force for Waterford these past few seasons, and as fellow club legend at De La Salle John Mullane would tell you, Carton has long been one of the best camogie players in the country. In fact he predicted Carton would scoop tonight's prize after De La Salle won the Waterford title last month.
“I said it to her last year, before we played Gailltír, that she is the best camogie player in Ireland. The twelve months just gone by proves it. In the next couple of weeks, I think she will be crowned Camogie Player of the Year. She’s just phenomenal. She’s a great ambassador for our club. She’s up there with the kids, training the Under 10s, up there every Wednesday. Her whole life is just camogie, camogie, camogie. The performance she gave there in the second-half was just phenomenal.”
During the awards ceremony in Croke Park on Saturday night, the announcement that Carton had won the Player of the Year award was greeted with the biggest roar of the evening.
Speaking to our own Lauren Guilfoyle, Carton said she wasn't expecting the award and accepted it on behalf of her teammates.
She also said there's a sense of unfinished business with this Waterford team after this year's disappointment.
"It's still hard to look back at it all, to be honest. You could probably say it's been a great year but we don't feel just it yet. We know what we did this year was good, but we have a lot that we want to rectify. It was a great year, but still a lot to do, please god."
Carton's teammates Lorraine Bray and Vikki Falconer also won PwC All-Stars tonight. It's deserved recognition for Waterford camogie, and their taliswoman from De La Salle.
