Thirty-one Offaly players awarded scholarship funding from the GPA

Thirty-one Offaly members of the Gaelic Players Association will benefit from scholarship funding for the current academic year.  

The awards, which were made based upon eligibility and merit, are split very close to 50:50 between male and female players.  For the first time the scholarships have been equalised, meaning all members will receive the same funding depending on their level of study.  These scholarships range from €1,000 to €1,500.

Recipients were invited to a special presentation to mark the announcement at the Radisson Blu Hotel at Dublin Airport recently.  Almost one third of the GPA’s 4,000 strong membership are students. Offaly’s Becky Bryant, Sarah Harding, Sarah Kehoe, Conor Langton, Bill Carroll, Jane Lowry and Louise Mannion attended.

The 31 Offaly players receiving scholarship funding are

Mark Abbott - Football
Becky Bryant - Camogie
Jack Bryant - Football
Amy Byrne - Camogie
Eoghan Cahill - Hurling
Bill Carroll - Football
Rory Carty - Hurling
Eamonn Cleary - Hurling
Eamonn Cleary - Hurling
David Dempsey - Football
Ciaran Donnelly - Football
Cathal Donoghue - Football
Brian Duignan - Hurling
Rory Egan - Football
Róisín Ennis - Football
Cian Farrell - Football
Amy Gavin Mangan - Football
Dara Hanamy - Camogie
Sarah Harding - Camogie
Sarah Kehoe - Football
Conor langton - Hurling
Jane Lowry - Camogie
Cathal Mangan - Football
Louise Mannion - Camogie
David Nally - Hurling
Luke O’Connor - Hurling
Killian Sampson - Hurling
Jack Screeney - Hurling
Sharon Shanahan - Camogie
Mairéad Teehan - Camogie
Morgan Watkins - Hurling

Speaking at the event, GPA CEO Tom Parsons said; “This is a very important day for a large percentage of our members.  It is fantastic to be able to support them through these scholarships and we know the positive impact they will have on the lives of our members.

“In lots of cases, student athletes in our games struggle to make ends meet so these awards help in that respect.  Others cannot hold down part-time jobs because of their study and sporting commitments and again this will help alleviate some of the burden they can be under.

“We are delighted to be able to equalise the awards for our male and female members.  It is yet another move we have made towards levelling the field for all our student members.”

GPA Education and Events Manager Karen Thorpe added, “our student members can avail of a whole series of supports through the GPA from scholarships like those being awarded today, to educational support and career advice through our BEO360 programme.

“We also have partnerships with approximately 30 universities, colleges and education institutions across the island which allows us to offer enhanced scholarships to a number of players who are pursuing postgraduate programmes including Masters, MBA or PhD level education. 

“This support is aimed at allowing them to concentrate of achieving the best possible results in their studies by helping to alleviate some of the financial burden.”

All players who are in receipt of this scholarship funding must have taken part in the GPA’s Rookie Camp which outlines to players their rights and responsibilities as members of inter-county panels.