Antrim made their first appearance in the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship for the first time in four decades on Saturday. At St Brendan's Park in Birr, they defeated Offaly 4-18 to 1-10.
Róisín McCormick contributed 1-8 of Antrim's total. That was despite what she considered a far from ideal build-up.
"I've been in Dublin for the last week with exams," McCormick, who is studying Sports Science at TU Dublin, said during the week as she was named PwC GPA Player of the Month for March in camogie.
"I've had to do my own personal training, which obviously isn't what you want to be doing going into an All-Ireland championship series.
"I’ll just say it was a very tough two weeks with the exams. I have been missing training because I have been down in Dublin and having to do my own and it is hard to find the time to balance both, but now they are over I can just focus on camogie and worry about results when they come in two or three months."
19 May 2022; PwC GPA Players of the Month for March in camogie, Róisín McCormick of Antrim, centre, in ladies football, Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh of Kerry, left, and PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Month for March Stephen Bennett of Waterford, right, are joined by, from left, GPA Chief Executive Tom Parsons, PwC Cork Senior Partner Ger O'Mahoney, and Munster GAA Vice Chairman Tim Murphy, at PwC's Cork offices. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
McCormick finished her final exam at 5:30pm on Wednesday. After travelling to Cork to pick up her award at the PwC offices, and field some questions from the media, she headed back to Dublin to move out of her accommodation. Antrim will be home for the summer, which will make life much easier.
"I do too much travelling for training!" she said.
"I'm up and down that route like a yo-yo. I'm flat out. But it is worth it, especially last year I was up and down throughout the summer and that between Dublin and home. Winning the All-Ireland [Intermediate Championship], it just made it all worth it, all the travel and all the commitment."
McCormick said she gets expenses for driving to matches, though not to training.
"It does impact," she said when asked if she was much out of pocket due to her road trips between Dublin and Antrim.
"I don't really have time for a part-time job either. The only thing is, with TU, the scholarship I'm on, they sponsor my accommodation, so I'm not out on money on accommodation. So the money I'd be spending usually on accommodation is going towards my travel expenses. I suppose I'm the only player that's far away from home. Everyone else is Antrim based."
McCormick added that the possible merger between the GAA, Camogie Association, and LGFA, would be "a good initiative to come in" as it could address the issue of expenses for female Gaelic games players.
Antrim's step up to the top tier of camogie, after being so long in the lower levels, has spurred "a lot of excitement" throughout the county.
"People that wouldn't usually be coming up to you would be like, 'Aw, looking forward to senior championship, it's a big deal, how do ye think ye are going to get on?'" said McCormick.
"We're just being offered a lot. We've been offered the main pitch in Antrim, in Corrigan, for our senior home games. There is a lot more excitement throughout Antrim which you love to see because normally the focus was just on the footballers and the hurlers but now the camogiers and the ladies Gaelic footballers are being brought in."
Featured image credits: Sportsfile / Shutterstock.com
See Also: Four-star Galway Get Perfect Start To Camogie Championship Defence
