Clogher pair earn Ulster call-up

CLOGHER Valley RFC’s joint women Coaches’ Player of the Year, captain Katie Hetherington and Siobhan Sheerin have been selected in Murray Houston’s Ulster squad for the upcoming 2025/26 Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship.

The talented duo have been included in the 35-player panel on the back of domestic success this year, having both been a part of the Clogher Valley squad that lifted the Suzanne Fleming Cup at Kingspan Stadium.

This marks Sheerin’s first call up to the Ulster Rugby Senior Women’s squad, but for Hetherington, she returns to the provincial set-up for the first time in a couple of years, much to her ‘surprise’.

“It was a surprise to get selected, especially since I hadn’t been in it for two or three years, but it’s always a pleasure, you always feel very proud to be selected,” she beamed.

“I was shocked, but it was good! It’s really good and it’s really good representation for the club too.”

Hetherington and Sheerin will join up with the Ulster squad on June 10 as they begin their preparations for the Interprovincial Championship.

And while that means they won’t have as long an off-season as they may have hoped, they don’t mind and they believe it will stand them in good stead for next season.

“It will be good to be able to get coached at that sort of level because it means you’ll be able to bring it back to club. We’re really looking forward to it, there’s a good squad of girls,” Hetherington added. “It’s a big commitment during the summer but it will all be worth it if we get to play.”