SPORTS AWARDS: St Louis complete memorable hat-trick

The Cullybackey Road school won the Ulster Junior Colleges ‘B’ camogie championship for the second time in four years and only the third time in the school’s history.

The girls showed great determination, commitment and maturity beyond their years to win the Ulster championship and their experience of intense training and high standards of organisation and preparation will be of great benefit to them as they step up to the top tier of Ulster Colleges camogie this year.

The school’s year 12 hurlers won the Danske Bank Kirk Cup title for the first time in April.

Impressive wins over renowned opposition in the quarter-final and semi-finals took St Louis into the final for the first time and having got that far, they were in no mood to let the opportunity slip from their grasp as they overwhelmed St Columba’s Portaferry 4-15 to 1-5.

St Louis’ Year 9 footballers completed a hat-trick of Ulster titles for the school when they claimed the Corn Colmcille title in emphatic fashion in May.

The Ballymena boys entered the final as underdogs against a formidable St Patrick’s Downpatrick side who had beaten them in the final the previous year but St Louis overturned that result to claim the glory.

That set the seal on a memorable year for St Louis, with Aimee McAtamney, part of the coaching team, stating: “You couldn’t doubt the hard work that the boys and girls on all three teams put in.

“You also have to give big credit to the parents who came to pick the children up after training, when they maybe weren’t getting out of school until half past five.”

And as Aimee revealed, the school has no intention of sitting back and resting on its laurels.

“The school now has every team playing in ‘A’ Colleges which is a really big thing to have them playing at the top standard in Ulster.”

Also nominated: Laura McGahey (archery); Ballymena Academy (showjumping).