Posted: 11 December 2007I
UCD awards 83 sports scholarships
83 students from a dozen sports have been awarded UCD sports scholarships for 2007/2008. Each student who receives the award is guaranteed access to the best coaches, training facilities, and the support of the UCD High Performance Centre during the course of their studies.
The UCD sports scholarship programme, which aims to develop elite athletes capable of competing at the highest national and international level, was first introduced in 1979 to assist talented soccer players who wanted to remain in third-level education.
Since its inception, the programme has supported more than 650 students from a wide range of sports including athletics, basketball, camogie, cycling, gaelic football, golf, handball, hockey, hurling, rowing, rugby, and soccer.
Recipients of the 2007/2008 UCD sports scholarships include:
- Mary Leacy who captained Wexford to their All Ireland camogie title in 2007.
- Cyclist Louise Moriarty, who is the Irish 3km Track Individual pursuit record holder.
- Dual player Barry O’Rorke, who captained the Dublin minor hurlers to their Leinster Championship title in 2007.
- Hockey players, Roisin Flinn and Lisa Jacob, who are both members of the Irish senior team.
- Robert Kearney captain of the Irish Under 19 World Cup rugby squad in 2004 and current member of Leinster and Ireland “A” squads.
- Paul Ormond Tipperary senior hurler and member of the victorious Loughmore-Castleiney Munster Club Championship side.
Former UCD sports scholars include the current international rugby players Brian O’Driscoll and Paddy Wallace, captain of the Dublin County Gaelic Football team, Colin Moran and his team mates Alan Brogan, Paul Griffin and Darren Magee.
Access to the High Performance Centre is a great boost to athletes preparing for Bejing 2008 and London 2012. The centre provides a supportive framework of biomechanical, biochemical and nutritional information, facilitating the use of techniques found in the best universities in the world. To develop their performance, a tailored Strength and Conditioning Programme is devised for sports scholars and supervised by Lisa Regan, Director of the UCD High Performance Centre.
The UCD sports scholarship programme specifically encourages team sports and UCD fields teams at the highest competitive level. The rugby team competes in Division 1 of the AIB All-Ireland league, the ladies and men’s hockey teams compete in the top flight of their respective Leinster leagues, the soccer team are the only university side to play in the Eircom League premier division, while the senior hurling and gaelic football sides have a strong tradition in both the University and Dublin Championship competitions.
Sport at UCD continues to thrive and recent announcements by the University in relation to the building of a swimming pool along with the completion of the upgrading of the UCD Bowl for use by soccer and rugby will further improve the facilities for sports players and spectators.
