Brianna O'Regan starring for Waterford

By Cian O’Connell

It has been an eventful campaign for Waterford, who remain in the race for Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie honours.

For much of the past decade, Waterford have been consistent, staying relevant, reaching the latter stages. That is a source of optimism for O’Regan ahead of Saturday’s Croke Park quarter-final against Clare. “You pat the managements on the back from previous years to get us to where we are today,” O’Regan says about the progress.

“We're going in the right direction because the younger girls that have come in, they've been phenomenal. The likes of Maggie Gosti and Eimear O'Neill.

"They're flying on the scoreboard. The work they're doing in training, they're just after finishing the Leaving Cert, there is no fear of them.”

A mixture of emerging and established players, Waterford delivered in a hard-fought group to emerge with last year’s semi-finalists Dublin knocked out. “We set out at the start of the year that the Kilkenny game was a massive one for us,” O’Regan explains.

“To get over that was great. It set the ground running for us in a way, to get a first win. It settled the nerves a bit. We're going in the right direction. To be in knockout camogie any year is a great achievement, and it is where you want to be.”

The defeat to Galway in the last group match means Waterford must go the quarter-final route, but O’Regan acknowledges that valuable lessons have been learned in recent championships. “It is going out every year, trying to fix that one or two per cent that went wrong on the day that we get knocked out,” O’Regan remarks.

“You go back then, and you look over the year, to see where we can improve on. It is going in the right direction. Hopefully now before I retire, we will have an All-Ireland, Please God.”

Performing at Croke Park ahead of the All-Ireland SHC Semi-Final between Dublin and Cork adds another layer of excitement. “It is where any camogie player wants to be, in Croke Park before the hurling,” O’Regan replies.

“Hopefully we can get a good crowd in. It is a great achievement to go out to represent your county in Croke Park, we're looking forward to it.”

Camogie and sport has brought joy to O’Regan, who acknowledges Joey Carton’s advice and coaching in her own career. “I'll be forever indebted to camogie for the way it has helped me on a personal level,” De La Salle’s O’Regan says.

Carton spotted O’Regan’s goalkeeping potential at a young age. “I'm trying to get out of it now at club level, but he won't leave me,” she laughs.

“Joey is a phenomenal person, on and off the pitch. If I've anything, I'd probably ring him up, he'd be the first person on my contact list to ring. Joey is a great person.

"I'll be forever grateful to him as a mentor. I started U12, he threw me in for the Féile, I'm forever in there now. I play outfield in the football, so I'll probably have to take that as a win.”

O’Regan is still starring for club and county.