Hockey
This week, on Thursday, 18 April, the Ursuline Thurles will be the first Munster school to host the illustrious June Smith Hockey Tournament. It is an All-Ireland Provincial Final for Minor A or U15A Cup Winners. The Ursuline Minor As and their coach Ms Helen Claire Fahey won the Munster Cup title at the end of February beating Mount Mercy, 1-0 in the final. The Ursuline will welcome Banbridge Academy, Ulster, Salerno Secondary School, Connacht, Muckross Park College, Leinster and Kilkenny College, Leinster South, while the Ursuline Thurles will represent Munster. This is a relatively new tournament for this age group, only beginning in 2018 and named after long standing Connacht Hockey enthusiast, June Smith, who was one of the first female umpires to be awarded her FIH Crown, given by the international governing body of the sport. She certainly deserves to have a tournament named in her honour and the Minor As from the Ursuline certainly deserve and are honoured to be contesting for the title and hosting the tournament. The School hopes to give the guests from the four corners of Ireland a very warm Tipperary welcome. Best of luck to all the hockey coaches and players from UCT who will be helping out this week but most especially to the Minor As and their mentor Ms Fahey who hope to do their very best to win the June Smith Tournament on their home turf.
First Year Hockey
Congratulations to the First Year Pink Hockey team who won the Munster A Schools Hockey League Final against Mount Mercy last week. The full time score was UCT 3-1 Mount Mercy. Two Emma McDonald goals and another from Anna Doyle saw the young Tipp girls triumph. It was a great achievement and well deserved, as all First Year players have proved to be committed to training and are continuing to make great progress under the guidance of their coach Ms Eimear Cregan.
Minor C Hockey
The Minor C Hockey team played Bandon last week and secured their place in the Munster Cup Final. Captained by Hannah Byrne, Third Year and coached by Ms Fahey they’ve had some cracking games and they are looking forward to playing their best hockey of the season in the Munster C Final.
Second Year Trip to Ballyhass Adventure Centre, Mallow
The Ursuline Second Years did not let the bad weather deter them from having a great time at Ballyhass Adventure Centre in Mallow, Co Cork on Monday, 8 April, their first day back to school after the Easter break. The headed off to have some fun and do team bonding activities on the lakes and on land in the company of their Year Head, Ms Egan and tutors Ms Loughnane, Ms Lewis, Ms Lyons. The rafted on the water, kayaked, climbed high on the ropes and basically enjoyed themselves expending a lot of energy outdoors for the day.
Soccer
The Ursuline U15 Soccer team played a Munster Semi-Final against Presentation Thurles in Tipp Town last week. They have been under the guidance of Ms Beason this year and had some great games to get to this stage of the competition. Unfortunately, they came up short on this occasion and Pres advance to the Munster Final but well done to the UCT girls on giving it their all.
TY Workshops
Ursuline TYs had two very different workshops this week. The first was facilitated by Michelle Harding, called School of Life. The students learned the art of hospitality, how to shake hands firmly, how to greet people, how serve at a table, correct dining etiquette and lots of other useful skills. Michelle’s bright and breezy delivery made it interesting and fun while they learned lots of good tricks that should serve them well, beyond the school walls.
They also had a fencing workshop delivered by Nenagh Fencing Club. They learned the skills of the sport and had some ‘safe’ sword fights, putting into practice lunging, riposting and parrying.
French Exchange
The Ursuline has welcomed some new students after Easter who will be staying in the School until the end of the academic year. They are from a fellow Ursuline School in Nantes, France and returned with six UCT girls who spent three weeks going to the lycée in Blanche di Castille before and during the Easter holidays. TYs Emma Fogarty, Fiona Barry, Rianne Fanning, Gráinne O’Loughlin, Ella Heaney and Maria Taaffe had a wonderful experience of attending school in a different country, spending time with host families and improving their language skills.