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Hurling , Irelands native sport, is one of the main sports promoted in Scoil Ruain. The story of hurling goes right back to Irish mythology where the legendary Cu Chulainn was reputed to have been an exceptional exponent of the game in his youth.
Today, this game has a massive following in most parts of Ireland, with the All-Ireland final a major sporting highlight each year.
Hurling is a team game with fifteen players on each team. Each player carries a hurley (in Gaelic “camán – crooked stick ) With which he strikes a leather ball ( in Gaelic sliotar ).
There are six defenders, six attackers, two mid-fielders and a goalkeeper on each team. At either end of the pitch stand the goal-posts, 10 metres high approx. and 6.5 metres apart. A crossbar joins both posts at a height of 2.5 metres. The object of the game is to score within this area. When the ball crosses between the posts above the crossbar , a point is scored. When the ball crosses beneath the crossbar, a goal ( worth three points ) is scored. The team with the greatest score wins the match.
Hurling is the traditional sport of Co. Tipperary, the Gaelic Athletic Association which promotes both hurling and Gaelic Football having been formed in Thurles in 1884. Most youngsters follow their parish team from an early age and take great pride when their parish or county achieve success. Children as young as six years of age start to wield a hurley and begin to develop the skills necessary to master this game, the fastest field game on earth. Most students who attend Scoil Ruain have, at some time, played with their local clubs and primary school teams.
Scoil Ruain enters teams in three categories of hurling competitions: (a) South Tipperary Vocational Schools: • Senior Hurling (under 18) • Junior Hurling (under 15) (b) Tipperary Post- Primary Schools: • Fitzgerald Cup (under 17) • Croke Cup (under 15) • First year Hurling (c) Munster Vocational Schools: • Senior Hurling (under 18) • Junior Hurling (under 16) • First year Hurling Our school has established an enviable reputation on the hurling fields. We have won the Munster Junior Hurling Championship on six occasions in 1975, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994 and 1997 and followed up with All-Ireland wins in 1989, 1992 and 1997. At Senior Hurling level the school has won three Munster Titles in the 90's, in 19 , 19 and 1999. Unfortunately an All-Ireland title has eluded us at this level thus far.
Other notable victories on the hurling field were our First year Munster Title in 199 and our first ever Fitzgerald Cup success in 1997. We have dominated South Tipperary
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Sean O Regan, coach with the 1997, Junior 'C' All Ireland champions who were to evolve into the 2001 All Ireland 'A' champions.
The 1998 Cadette team. The base team for four All Ireland wins.
Basketball has been part of Scoil Ruain's sporting activities since its foundation, It is primarily played by the girls in the school, this came about originally to allow our girls to be involved in a competitive sport.
The school entered the Schoolgirls Basketball Association of Ireland (S. B. A. I) in 1985 at D level. The following year they won the senior D All -Ireland, which promoted the school to C level, the same team reached the All -Ireland Final in Senior C in 1986. This year also saw the emergence of an excellent group of athletes into first year, who worked extremely hard on their basketball skills. In 1987 the C Junior team won the All- Ireland in Sligo and the D Junior team reached the Midlands Semi-Finals.
The school was promoted to B level and lost the Midlands Final in 1988. The school had their first Irish International in Ann-Marie Healy who played on the 83 programme, in November the Cadette team went to Scotland. In 1989 the school had its great involvement in the sport, with teams competing in all levels, Minor, Junior, Cadette and Senior.
Two players Ann-Marie Healy and Edel Fitzgerald won the Under-15 All-Ireland Inter-Regionals with the Midlands Region.
1999, the highlight of the year was the trip to Chicago, USA, 21 players, Cadette and Seniors, 2 parents, Coach Sean O' Regan and Sile Clancy (past pupil) assistant coach. They had two fantastic weeks and played eight games. Two players from the school made it into the Irish 85 team, Aine O' Dwyer and Sarah Healy.
Three players, Aoife O' Dwyer, Irene Codd and Ann-Marie Healy won an Under-18 All-Ireland. Inter-Regional with the Midlands in November. 2000, saw the fruit of all the work put in over the previous five years with back to back Senior B All-Irelands the league and cup and the Cadette team were unlucky to be beaten in the All-Ireland playoffs.
The Bank of Ireland 'A' Cup is the pinnacle of schools' basketball in Ireland.
2001 All Ireland 'A' schools champions
The 2001 season saw the bank of Ireland 'A' Cup reach the school. An elite group of players: Aoife O Dwyer, Irene Codd, Theresa Cleary, Aisling Codd, Aine O Dwyer, Sarah Healy, Ann Marie Healy and Louise O Dwyer, after years ofdedicated training defeated Presentation Convent, Thurles in a nail-biting final.
Sean O Regan, Scoil Ruain basketball coach is presented with Basketball School of the Year Award, 2001. Ann Marie Healy, Scoil Ruain player and top athlete is awarded the title: Player of the year 2001.
The team had a big scare a week before the final, when Ann Marie Healy injured her cruciate ligament whilst playing in her Thurles club All - Ireland final and was in hospital in Kilkenny while the team were winning The All Ireland Bank of Ireland schools' cup.
Ann Marie Healy, standing with crutch, joins the team at Scoil Ruain on their homecoming.
All of the aforementioned elite group, were also part of that same Thurles club that won the All - Ireland Under 19 National Cup of 2001.
Aoife O Dwyer being awarded the U19 National Cup on behalf of her team in 2001.
The senior team also reached the All Ireland 'A' school League final of that year.
Niall Quinn, famous international Irish soccer player presents the medals, cups and shields won throughout the past years as a celebration of the successes of the team of 2000,2001.
The senior team of 2002 reached the Midlands final which they lost narrowly and were unlucky to lose out in the All - Ireland qualifiers for the 'A' league finals.
Aine O Dwyer and Sarah Healy followed in Ann Marie Healys footsteps and became Irish Internationals and represented their country in The Four Countries and the European Championships.
Three of the girls received scholarships to the U.S.A. for basketball. Ann Marie Healy , to Jacksonville State University, Alabahama, Aine O Dwyer, to New Jersey Tech. and Sarah Healy to Florida State University, which she did not take up.
Ann Marie completed her scholarship in Science and is back in Ireland now doing her Higher Diploma in Education at Dublin City University. She is currently playing basketball with DCU/Coolock.
Aine O Dwyer completed her Engineering degree and is now doing a doctrate on a soccer scholarship in New Jersey Tech. U.S.A.
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