Jovita Delaney (born 1974) is an Irish sportsperson. She played senior

camogie Camogie ( ; ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...

with Tipperary and

Cashel Cashel (an Anglicised form of the Irish language word ''Caiseal'', meaning "stone fort") may refer to: Places in Ireland *Cashel, County Tipperary **The Rock of Cashel, an ancient, hilltop fortress complex for which Cashel is named ** Archbishop ...

Camogie Club, winning All-Star awards in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, a Lynchpin award, predecessor of the All Star awards, in 2003 and All Ireland medals in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004.

Early life

Jovita Delaney was born in Boherlahan near

Cashel, County Tipperary Cashel (; ) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,422 in the 2016 census of Ireland, 2016 census. The town gives its name to the ecclesiastical province of ''Cashel''. Additionally, the ''cathedra'' of the Roman Cathol ...

in 1974. She grew up surrounded by an atmosphere of

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

activity. Her father had played with his local club in his youth and was heavily involved in coaching the local juvenile teams. The family’s association with the game stretches back almost one hundred years as Arthur O'Donnell, a cousin, won

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

medals with Tipperary in 1916 and 1925. Delaney frequently attended games with her family, however, it was not until she attended Scoil Mhuire in Cashel that she first became involved in competitive

. It was here that she first tasted success, winning both junior and senior Munster titles in 1989 and 1990. Unfortunately an All-Ireland title eluded her.

Playing career

Club

By attending school in Cashel Delaney became involved with Cashel camogie club. Here she won several under-age titles before breaking onto the senior team in the late 1980s. The club had a great run of success at senior level, with Delaney winning county titles as a member of the forward line in 1989, 1990, 1991. By the late 1990s she had switched to the full-back line where she won a further four county medals between 1998 and 2001. Delaney added a Munster club medal in 2001, however, her side were defeated in the All-Ireland final.

Inter-county

Delaney began playing with the Tipperary minor team in 1986 at the age of twelve. Four years later she tasted her first major success when she won an All-Ireland medal at minor level. In the game itself against

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

Delaney scored seven points from centre-forward. This win was particularly special as it was Tipperary’s first camogie title at any grade. Two years later in 1992 Delaney had more success when she won an All-Ireland title with the Tipperary junior team. Another All-Ireland medal followed in 1997 when the Tipperary intermediate team won the All-Ireland title following a win over

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

. She played in eight successive All Ireland finals for Tipperary winning five All Ireland medals in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004. She won her first All Ireland senior club medal with Cashel in 2007 and a second against Athenry in 2009. She was nominated for a further All Star award in 2004.524 2004 All Star nominations
In 1999 she became

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

on the senior team and would shortly taste major success. That year Tipperary reached their first-ever senior

final where they faced Kilkenny. Tipp emerged victorious by a single point and Delaney claimed her first senior All-Ireland medal. In 2000 Delaney was appointed captain of Tipperary’s senior camogie team. Once again her side reached the All-Ireland final but this time the opponents were

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. Tipp won on the day and Delaney captured her second senior All-Ireland medal. Her performance on the day earned her the

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Player of the Match award. In 2001 Tipperary made it three-in-a-row following a comprehensive defeat of Kilkenny. The next five years would see Tipperary face Cork in five consecutive All-Ireland finals. Cork won in 2002, however, Delaney’s Tipperary side won back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004. Cork emerged victorious once again in 2005 and 2006 with back-to-back victories of their own.

References

* Brendan Fullam, ''Captains of the Ash'', (Wolfhound Press, 2002). {{DEFAULTSORT:Delaney, Jovita Living people Tipperary camogie players 1974 births People from Cashel, County Tipperary