From Derrynaseera to Croke Park: Camross' Sarah Anne Fitzgerald ready for All-Ireland Club Final

Camross legend Sarah-Anne Fitzgerald is counting down the days until she and her club take to the Croke Park turf to face Ballincollig from Cork in the AIB All-Ireland Club Intermediate Final on Sunday, December 14.

Fitzgerald admitted that it’s still hard to believe what’s happening and that even going to training in miserable conditions is enjoyable as everyone is on their game.

“Still in shock, not shock, but still kind of catching myself daydreaming that we're going to Croke Park next week. Just brilliant, even the fact that, you know, we're still hurling and it's December and still going and it's not pre-season training. Going down training and it's cold and it's wet, but it's all first-touch snappy, which in itself makes it a lot easier going down training,” she said.

While the excitement is palpable, Fitzgerald stressed that the team must keep their focus on performance rather than the spectacle. She said winning another trophy for the parish would be incredible.

“At the end of the day, like, we're not going out to hurl an occasion, we're going out to hurl a match. That's what we've been preaching and focusing on, driving home at training. The history books won't say who played the occasion; they'll say who won the match. That's what we've been trying to drill into our heads and, you know, we'll keep doing it. We've another week now of fine-tuning and getting everything sorted. 

“Again, more than anything, we just keep saying it would be magical just to bring back a cup, like, get another cup back to the parish and to show it to our people and celebrate with them would be unbelievable, like, do it for them as well,” she said.

Camross only returned to club training at the end of April, and Fitzgerald said the players were eager to get started.

“From a club perspective, we actually didn't start back until the end of April. You know, when I think of it now, I suppose Arien, our manager, said, trust me, because we were all getting itchy feet and we wanted to get back sooner. You hear in other clubs, we're all back and everyone else is back, and we were waiting in the wings, kind of, but he said, trust me, trust me, we’ll have ye right come when you need it to be and, look, it's worked so far. It has been a long year, too, but again, like, the training that you're doing this time of year, you know, it's not taking it out of you. 

“The work is done and the money's in the bank, so it's just fine-tuning things so people don't mind going down training. We've had a break there in terms of matches. We had a heavy load there from after the county final to the All-Ireland semi-final. We got a break, but, you know, it's just about fine-tuning everything now. I don't think girls mind when there's an All-Ireland final in front of you. Like, we don't mind how long the year goes on as long as you get over the line,” she said.

Fitzgerald highlighted the importance of bringing young players into the squad, pointing to Erin Walsh and Muireann Bennett as examples of the club’s future stars.

“Absolutely, and any team needs to stay growing and needs to be adding new people every year. This year, Muireann (Bennett) and Erin (Walsh) are two young girls. Erin's not even done her Leaving Cert yet. She's here working behind us here in the Poet’s Cottage. They've just grown so much, training away into December just brings them on even further and more, and the experience they're going to gain from this is just massive because they're the future of the club, along with the rest of the girls as well. We do have a great mix; we have the older crew, we have the people in the middle, and then we have the younger crew again, and they're driving us on as much as anything, and look, we need everyone. 

“As I said, we're lucky in Camross, we have a strong tradition and history, in terms of numbers and participation, we're very lucky from that regard. We always have the numbers, and please God, may it continue. But it's just a culture up here too, we always keep adding them. Our underage is starting to get going again in terms of winning trophies. We just need to keep adding players every year to the group, and I'm sure the younger girls are looking on and being like, gosh, they can get to Croke Park too, so it's a win-win for everyone, really,” she said.

After playing in Laois jerseys for recent fixtures due to kit clashes, Fitzgerald said wearing the Camross strip at Croke Park will be extra special.

“Definitely, the last two games were played against opposition with the same colours. We’ve had good luck in the Laois jersey, but it'll be extra special knowing that we're running underneath the Hogan Stand in our Camross jerseys and they'll be back on Sunday. I would have to say that the Laois jerseys proved very lucky for us. But look, we've won in the Camross jerseys, we won the county final in them and then we won the Leinster wearing the Laois jerseys. It would be great now to win the All-Ireland in our Camross jerseys,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald explained that the lack of flood-lit pitches has meant improvisation, including renting tower lights and travelling to neighbouring clubs for training.

“Unfortunately, we don't have lights. They are on the way in Camross, but we didn’t have them for this year, and we ended up having to rent the tower lights that you see at funerals and things like that. We have a couple of those dotted around the pitch. Not ideal, but we're able to get by with it. We do have a bit of a ball wall that has lights there. We had to go over to Coolderry, over in Offaly, which wouldn't be too far from us here. They have a fantastic facility, and other pitches like Rathleague were very good to us, and Ballyfin were very good to us. I've probably left someone out now, but the other clubs have been very good to us. At the end of the day, they need to mind their houses too, pitches close, and that's fair enough.

“Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get into the Centre of Excellence as much as we would have wanted either. Look, that would have been great; it would have been handy. We made do with what we had, and we improvised, got the tower lights. People are probably wondering, we've had great support with the GoFundMe, but it's not going towards us in terms of materialistic things. It's going towards the lights and stuff like that, and pitches because it is very expensive, but look, we had to make do. I know there are lights on the way, but, unfortunately, they didn't arrive this year,” she said.

Fitzgerald reflected on her decision to step away from football this year to focus solely on camogie.

“My age and the body. The girls in football would know I was a hurler playing football. So Camogie was always number one. I just came to the stage where I just wasn't able to give the energy or the commitment levels to both. The fact that they’re two different clubs as well, so there are two completely different schedules, so it was just a challenge. You were giving 50% of your time to one and 50% to the other. It was just tricky. I just decided I wasn't going to go back to football this year, and they went on and won it then, but I was delighted for them. If I were 10 years younger, I'd still be playing both, but, unfortunately, time catches up with everyone,” she said.

As one of the more experienced players, Fitzgerald discussed the journey of Camross back to county and Leinster success.

“No, we don't. We obviously are part of the older group, and we have seen the kind of peaks and troughs within our club. 10, 11, 12 years ago, we were competing in Leinster finals. Unfortunately, losing them to teams that went on to win the All-Ireland, and we thought our chance had gone completely. 10 years have passed, and now we're back at this level again, which is great. It's more so for the club, I think the club itself, with the history and tradition it has, needed another Leinster title, and we won one 25 years ago, it's hard to believe we haven't won one since. So many good players have gone through the club since. 

“To get a Leinster title win is something we were chasing, to be honest, and as I said, we did think our chance had gone, but we just put the shoulder to the wheel. Our underage team has been very strong. We've won five, or I think it was three minor titles in a row. These girls are now the backbone of the club, and they're driving it forward. Things do come in circles, and I suppose you just have to keep going. The older group stuck together too, we didn't disappear. Some had kids, married and stuff like that, but we've all come back this year, and it's been great,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald outlined how the squad have stayed in peak condition through a long season with intensive training and support.

“When you're winning, you just don't feel it. The adrenaline just gets you going. Arien has put in huge work with us this year. Very lucky that he has a gym himself, so we were in his gym, and he even brought out equipment for us as well from the gym, so when we were training, doing circuits afterwards. We had a meeting at the start, when I say start of the year, I mean April. We had a meeting back in April, and he bluntly laid it out to us and showed us, we had clips and showed us just how bad we’d got. We really just put our shoulders to the wheel.

“Everyone made a commitment to train as hard as possible, and we did that. Girls didn't leave any stone unturned, and huge credit goes to everyone involved. In particular, Alan, our physio, has been excellent too. The fact that we have that S&C bank behind us, we've been very lucky from an injury perspective. Girls have really looked after themselves and done whatever it takes to get themselves over the line and get themselves fit and ready for this,” she said.

Fitzgerald spoke about the incredible support from the community and how the team’s bond has strengthened over the long season.

“Oh, it's massive, we feed off them, the energy that we get off them is just incredible and just that in itself has been probably the best part of this journey, just seeing the support and seeing people. Even after the semi-final win, when we came back to the village here, literally grown men were crying with tears of joy, they couldn’t believe that they're going to Croke Park as well, so it's massive. It's a huge buzz in the community. Look, it's just a great community initiative, really, as well. Just the fact that there's going to be people leaving the parish next week, heading up to Croke Park, is just massive, it's just great to see. I think everyone is feeding off it, and there's just a great buzz around the place,” she said.

Finally, Fitzgerald reflected on the bond between players and the sense of family that drives Camross forward.

“The fact that we're going so long, the bond has just got even stronger and stronger. Nothing brings a group together like a win, and the celebrations and everything that goes behind that, and the fact that we're still going, the bond is just massive. We're a great group, as I said, there is a mix. We have a lot of sisters in the panel as well. I think there are nearly seven in total. It is a sense of unity and family spirit that is hard to match, and it's what keeps us going,” she concluded.

READ NEXT: Erin Walsh’s interview ahead of the game