Name: Kevin McGrath
Position: Full Back / Centre
Hometown: Skerries
Rugby History to date:
I started out in the Mini’s for Skerries RFC at aged five, went through the ranks in Mini’s and all through Youths. In school, made the Junior Cup and Senior Cup team for Skerries Community College. Through my teens played for North East Leinster, made the Leinster Youths team, Irish Youths and then as a senior player for Skerries RFC First XV.
In 2015, I was selected for the Ireland’s Club team to play France Clubs in the historic Ulster Bank Club International at the Aviva Stadium. My postion was left wing, an absolute honour to wear the Skerries socks to represent the importance of the clubs’s presence in Irish rugby.
I moved to New Zealand in the summer of 2017 and played with the East Coast Bays, a great experience playing with a Southern Hemisphere team.
Rugby Highlights to Date:
Promotion of Skerries to Senior Rugby in my first season for the First XV in 2012, making the Irish Club Team in 2015 and making the U16’s Final with Skerries RFC.
Views on this coming season in Division 2C:
Last season was a tough experience, but a lot of positives to draw from, two minutes from becoming fifth and one of the top scoring teams in the league. We need to draw on those experiences, identify the main areas to work on and focus on where we were strong. We have a lot of young players who have limited experience at Senior Level. The lower league will give the team time to rebuild and give these younger lads the experience and hopefully with a lot of good results, strive to return to Division 2B.
It’ll be an interesting season, a whole new set of teams and locations to travel to. The main ones that spring to mind are Tullamore and Bruff……two strong physical teams!
What will your Captaincy bring?
It’s a great honour for me to represent the team and the club as the captain for this season. I’ve gained a lot of experience in my 10 years playing senior rugby, so first and foremost I want to be a mentor for our new young blood on the team. It will be a tough year so it’s so important to regroup as a unit, build up the players’ confidence so we can give it all we got this year.
I hope to be an ambassador on and off the pitch, myself and the lads have discussed getting more involved in some charity initiatives. A number of us took part in the Static Cycle fundraiser in support of Skerries Youth Support Services last May, a really great charity and brilliant to be a part of. Events off the pitch help build the bond of a team so I’ll be looking to get all lads thoughts on events for this year.
Final Thoughts:
It’s a really exciting time for the club itself. The All Weather pitch is taking shape and I’m really looking forward to playing on it. It opens up opportunities for the club, improved facilities tends to result in more interested bodies so we’ll watch this space.
The Seconds had a great season last year so I wish them well for the year ahead, our U20’s team played some exceptional rugby last year and I hope to see them build and improve on that base again this year.
We had great results from the Youths teams, great to see huge potential for the years to come. We also have big numbers in our Minis, so we’re definitely building “from the ground up” and the girls are growing in their numbers year on year.
I’d like to thank the departing Mark Harrington as Head Coach who has done fantastic work with us and glad he’ll still be involved in the club as Director of Rugby.
To our new President, Jim O’Rourke, and the rest of the executive committee, I congratulate you on your election and wish you all the best in your roles.
To our sponsors, particularly our primary sponsor, LeasePlan, we sincerely appreciate your invaluable support to the club. Your generous contributions allow the club to compete and succeed at all levels and look forward to your support again for another year.
Finally, I hope to see you all down in the club this year supporting all our teams, I wish each and every one of them the best of luck. I’ve no doubt this year will be a successful one as we have the best supporters in the country #wearegoatnation!