Junior Club Job For a Day – The Reactions!

We had our biggest ever group of Junior Members working on a match day last Friday for Munster v Worcester Warriors in Irish Independent Park, Cork. A total of seven Junior Members went behind the scenes to assist the Munster team, staff and MRSC volunteers and did a fantastic job. Hear about their experiences here:

Events Assistant: Charlie Desmond, Cork (Age 9)

Charlie helped Event Manager Elaine Williams organise the smooth running of match day activities in Irish Independent Park. One of his main duties was choosing and presenting the Man of the Match award. Charlie chose Ronan O'Mahony as the deserved winner (pictured below)

"I entered a competition during the Summer to work with Munster Rugby for a Day. My mum helped me to write a CV and send in a photo to Ciara. When Ciara rang my mum to tell her I was chosen I couldn't believe it. For the next few weeks I was counting down the days to wear my Munster Jersey and go to work! I was to be an Assistant Events Organiser. I got to work with Elaine who was really nice and made me feel part of the team. She and Ciara told me everything I had to do and I also got to meet the other junior members who won.

I had an amazing seat right next to the tunnel. I had tunnel access and got to see the dressing rooms too. The most important and exciting part of my job was choosing Man of the Match. From the beginning I tried my best to watch each and every player but I knew it was going to have to be a Munster player…How could it not be?! I found it really hard to choose, Zebo, Billy Holland, Darren Sweentnam, they were all brilliant. The match was super exciting. It's easy to look to the scorers all the time but in the end I picked Ronan O Mahony and I think he really deserved it. He worked so hard for Munster.

The stadium was packed, the supporters were loud and great and you could feel the excitement. I wanted the night to last forever. I got to go onto the pitch and give Ronan O Mahony his medal for Man of the Match. I chatted to him and he was so friendly. Not only this but I met so many of the Munster team, including my all time hero CJ Stander. I got photos and got pats on the back from all the guys. I also got to meet the amazing Donnacha O Callaghan and told him how great it was to see him. Donners stayed around for ages meeting the Munster fans afterwards. I got to see how important it is for all the fans to meet the players and the effort the guys go to even after playing a match. We stayed until the lights went out in Independent Park.

I will never forgot this day. It has made me more determined to keep playing and training and I hope one day I will make it onto the pitch for real! Thank you Munster Rugby, MRSC and thank you Elaine and Ciara……it was awesome!!"

Oscars Helper: Adam Murphy Fitzgibbon, Cork (Age 8)

Adam made sure our mascot Oscar was on hand to meet all his fans both outside and throughout the stadium and helped keep the young mischievous stag in check!

"When I arrived at Independent Park I met Ciara Lyons who looked after me until Oscar arrived. We went out onto the pitch to see the teams come out of the tunnel. When I met Oscar, he was full of mischief, spraying water at the players and he even tried to spray me, his helper!! I went all around the stadium with Oscar as he met the people and took photographs with them. I got to see the room where the players go for a meal after the match, which was really cool!!. I was very nervous when I arrived but once I got onto to the pitch and the game started, I had the best time ever. My favourite bits were when Oscar sprayed Robin Copeland with water and Robin chased after Oscar and called him "a devil". Oscar even sprayed water on Donnacha O'Callaghan but lucky for me, Donnacha stood with me for a photograph and he even signed my jersey and my pass.

Thank you to Munster Rugby and the MRSC for giving me the job, I really enjoyed it and would love to get the chance to work with you again some day. Come on Munster!!!!"

MRSC Junior Photographer: Conor Price, Co Clare (Age 11)

Conor worked with MRSC photographer Linda Molloy and helped her to take photos of the fans and captured the action on the field from the side-line.

"Thank you for the opportunity to be photographer for the Munster vs Worcester Warriors game. It was amazing to be up close to all the action and tries. I really enjoyed meeting the players after the game, they were all happy to have their photo with me after the game. It was an opportunity of a life time and I'll never forget it. It was great to meet all the other winners and everybody was so nice. The evening went so fast.

Thank you to Linda for helping me work the camera. She was brilliant with me and very patient. It was great to see how a top camera works and how to get the right photo at the right time. Sometimes its luck that gets the good photos and I think I was very lucky during the game. Everybody in the crowd were shouting and waving at me looking for their photo to be taken. I was really happy with the way that the photos turned out and appreciate all the complimentary comments that I received on Facebook. All my family and friends have liked the photos. I am happy that my parents are very proud of me for doing my best.

The Job for a day concept is a really good idea and give kids like me the opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes. I hope that MRSC do it next year and give other kids a chance to work with a great club. Thank you to the MRSC, Ciara and Linda for the chance."

Assistant Nutritionist: Ciara Duggan, Tipperary (Age 14)

Ciara helped Preformance Nutritionist Dr Catherine Norton in the dressing room pre-game making sure the players had all they needed to perform at their best during the game.

"My experience being a nutritionist assistant was excellent. I enjoyed every minute of being with Dr Catherine Norton. I loved being in the dressing room and making up all the teams food and drink. It was wonderful learning about what the players do to keep healthy. It was also a great experience learning about the things that the team eat and do before during and after the match that most of the supporters don't know about. I didn’t know a lot of the things I was taught until then.

I also really enjoyed meeting the team after the game and getting pictures and autographs. I also enjoyed meeting Axel and thought it was funny that he tried to take all the wine gums from the dressing room. It was just a great experience overall and I would love to do it again. Thank you to the MRSC for this great opportunity. I had a great time."

Ball Boy: Conan Curtin, Cork (Age 12)

Working from the side-lines during warm up and during the game, Conan fed the rugby balls back to the Munster squad as needed for lineouts and restarts.

Ball Boy: Rian O'Luasa, Cork (Age 11)

As above Rian also worked hard from the side-lines during warm up and during the game, feeding the rugby balls back to the Munster squad as needed for lineouts and restarts.