Ballyclare's Club of the Year award 'a big hug of encouragement'
Ballyclare have scooped another prestigious accolade after their history-making season on the pitch last term.
The Cloughan outfit have been voted ‘Club of the Year’ by the Rugby Writers of Ireland at a lavish ceremony in Dublin.
Mike Orchin-McKeever’s side won the All Ireland Cup and Ulster Championship 1, which put them into the play-offs with the three other provincial league champions with a chance of promotion to the All Ireland League.
After beating Creggs from Connacht in the last four, captain Joel McBride scored a last-gasp try to win the final against Leinster champions Monkstown and send Ballyclare into the senior ranks for the first time since their formation in 1949.
Orchin-McKeever feels the award is an acknowledgement to everyone on and off the field who has contributed to the club’s success.
“It is a privilege to be recognised by the Irish Rugby Writers, it was something that wasn’t on our radar at all...it was lovely to be nominated or to be thought of for it but to win it is outstanding and puts the club on the map again,” said the coach. “Being a senior club for the first ever time was a massive achievement by us and it was a whole club effort.
“Halfway through the season picking up the All Ireland Junior Cup for the first time added a huge bit of momentum as it had done for other Ulster junior clubs throughout their successful seasons.
“I was really delighted that our second XV won Premier Provisional 1 and the Crawford Cup, for them to do the double and go undefeated was outstanding.
“It has been years of training and learning through wins and losses, it’s been years of growing a club and now it’s exciting to see where we can go.
“We refer to it as being a small country club, we are fielding five adult teams, we are developing our youth through stronger links with Ballyclare High School, it’s great to see so many pupils attending games on a Saturday afternoon.”
“We have very strong minis, we are really pushing our girls and women’s game and we have the Clare Hares, our disability side who train every Friday night at home when there is no Ulster matches.
“It is an outstanding club, from Laurence the chef, to Peter Caldwell taking care of the grounds, to the growing of the social media by David Campbell the PRO assisted by Kris James.
“It’s just outstanding where the club has been, to where it is now and to where it is going.
“To be recognised and rewarded is a big pat on the back, it is a big hug of encouragement to say ‘let’s go again’ and ‘what more can we do and what improvements can we make’ and ‘what more can we offer in this town to grow the sport and bring more members in to join us and welcome them?’”
“It has put us on the map, we were on the map as a junior club for years in Ulster and we wanted to be the best junior club in Ulster, we wanted to become the best junior club in Ireland and now that we have achieved senior status it gives us even more opportunity for growth.”
Orchin-McKeever paid tribute to his skipper McBride’s heroics in the play-off final.
“Joel pulled out a moment of genius by running a strong support line but that is through 83 minutes of graft by rotating forwards that were fit to play that day,” he said. “For Joel McBride to have his third season as captain to cap it off with lifting the All Ireland Junior Cup, score the winning try in the final and to get his club promoted to the All Ireland League and then represent Ulster Juniors and captain them while still in his 20s...it’s been an outstanding season.”