2010 Cadbury Hero of the Future
2nd June 2010: Dublin footballer Rory O’Carroll has been named as the 2010 Cadbury Hero of the Future at an awards ceremony in the Player’s Lounge in Croke Park. Rory has been honoured in recognition of his passion, excellence and commitment to the sport and was presented with his Cadbury Hero of the Future Award by Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Criostóir Ó Cuana and Shane Guest from Cadbury Ireland. Rory was a key member of the Dublin Under-21 team which won a hard fought final against Donegal in Cavan on May 1st, and is also a member of the Dublin Senior panel which will open their campaign against Wexford on Sunday week.
In total 14 footballers were shortlisted as part of the ‘Cadbury Hero of the Future’ initiative which ran in tandem with the Championship to highlight the achievements of individuals for outstanding teamwork, passion and performance on the field. A Cadbury Hero of the Match award was presented to a player at each provincial semi-final, each provincial final and the national semi-finals with the last Cadbury Hero of the Match selected at the Cadbury GAA Football U21 All Ireland Final in Cavan on May 1st 2010.
Rory, who plays his club football with Kilmacud Crokes, was named as a Cadbury Hero of the Match for his performance against Donegal in the All Ireland Final. The judging panel which consisted of senior Kildare footballer Dermot Earley, former Dublin manager Paul Caffrey and TG4 journalist Michael O’Domhnaill, gave serious consideration to the public vote which saw over 5,000 votes cast on cadburygaau21.com and Donegal’s Michael Murphy and Carlow’s Brendan Murphy finishing neck and neck, but ultimately Rory O’Carroll’s heroic performances in both the semi-final against Roscommon and the final against Donegal, where he faced two of the Ireland’s most talented footballers meant he edged the competition out in the end.
Speaking on behalf of all the Cadbury Hero of the Future judges Micheál O’Domhnaill said “Rory was part of a very hard working Dublin team, where the accolades were shared between the players. Rory epitomised that will to win. He was the man who marked the key players, and he did this in a low key but highly effective manner. Often we overlook what the backs do, because the forwards are the ones who get the scores. But in this instance, by a whisker, we’ve voted Rory O’Carroll as the 2010 Cadbury Hero of the Future.”
As the overall winner Rory received a specially commissioned bronze award, and a holiday voucher to the value of €1,000. In addition to this, Rory’s club, Kilmacud Crokes, also received a grant of €1,000 as did the Dublin County Board. This year Cadbury once again supplied each of the 14 Hero’s of the Match a training kit for their club. Dublin Manager Jim Gavin was also presented with an award to mark Dublin’s achievement in winning the 2010 Cadbury GAA U21 Football Championship.
