Camross Camogie's young gun Erin Walsh- 'I hope we can do it for the older girls now'

Camross Camogie’s Erin Walsh, who is 17 years old, will get to play on the hallowed turf of Croke Park this weekend, with her club competing in the AIB All-Ireland Intermediate Club Camogie Championship Final.

Walsh was speaking at Saturday morning’s press event, held in the Poet’s Cottage Cafe, where she was working as a member of staff.

“I'm not too nervous, excited now for the occasion. It doesn't come around too often. At the start of the year, we would have taken this opportunity definitely. Delighted, delighted is the only word,” she said.

Camross came through the challenge of Killimor from Galway in the semi-final, with Walsh scoring a crucial goal inside the first two minutes.

“I knew if I didn't get this now, I'd have to give it up altogether. It gave us a great boost; it was so early on, but there were still 50 minutes to go at that stage, so we didn't know how it was going to go,” Walsh said.

Walsh would have grown up looking up to the likes of Niamh Dollard and Sarah Anne Fitzgerald, and now on Sunday, she’ll get to play in an All-Ireland with the players she always admired.

“Well ahead of me at that stage. It's mad to say that I'm playing on the same team as Niamh Dollard and Sarah-Anne (Fitzgerald), and that. It's a great honour really. I hope we can do it for the older girls now,” she said.

The support from everyone in Camross has been amazing, and Walsh echoed that.

“It's lovely seeing people get behind it when the village gets behind you; it's a great drive on,” Walsh added.

The Camross youngster is yet to do her Leaving Cert, so she’s going to play alongside one of her teachers, Donnagh Mortimer.

“It's funny seeing her in school. Miss Mortimer, I usually forget that. It's strange, but it's good. Ah, sure, she's more of a friend now than a teacher,” Walsh concluded.

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