After a long road to victory - including a drawn December final, Christmas training sessions, and a January replay - last weekend saw the Athenry camogie team claim the All-Ireland club title.
The Galway side secured a thrilling two-point win over St Finbarr's of Cork to claim its first All-Ireland club title since 1977.
This week, the players embarked on a tour of local schools with the Bill & Agnes Carroll Cup, with some of Athenry’s stars returning to the place where their camogie journey began at St Oliver Plunkett National School in Newcastle.
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Of the 30-strong panel, nine members are past pupils of the school in the townland of Templemoyle, including sisters Sabina and Olwen Rabbitte.
Their father Joe, who is the Athenry manager, is also a former pupil.
For Olwen, walking back through the school gates as an All-Ireland champion was a special moment.
She said: "It’s really nice to come back because this is where camogie all started for me.
"Back when I was younger, this is where I first started playing.
"When I was the kids’ age, I would have been dreaming of winning All-Irelands and now to come back with the cup is such a full circle moment."
Olwen added that it was "lovely to see the smiles" on the children’s faces and to sign jerseys.
"It’s a really nice moment," she said.
Sabina's time at school in Newcastle led to her first taste of sporting success.
"We won the Cumann na mBunscol when we were young as well," she said.
"So memories are all coming back now," she added.
Sabina said the victory is important for the next generation of players as they can see what can be achieved.
"That’s what it’s all about, changing the guard," she said.
She added: "We were in their position not so long ago, so it's great for kids to have people to look up to, especially women in sport.
"It’s not that common, so it’s massive."
Along with Sabina and Olwen Rabbitte, Izzy Fleet, Tarron Kilkenny, Anna Jordan, Ailish Molloy, Jenny McNamara, Megan McDonagh and Elora Mahon are former pupils of St Oliver Plunkett, as is the team's goalkeeping coach Enda Gannon.
As goalscorer in the first drawn game before Christmas, Anna Jordan's return to her former playground brought the reality of the All-Ireland club title win to life.
She described the win as "unreal", adding: "I don't think it's sunk in, what we've done.
"But now we see all the kids cheering for us, it’s class," she said.
"We’ve only been out of the school for a few years," she added.
The sixth class pupils shared their thoughts on the impact of such a big win for the area as they gathered to meet the returning champions.
"I think it really cool because a lot of the girls are great role models for us and especially the younger girls," Muire said.
She added that those in the class are around 12 years old, while some of the team have just turned 16.
"That's like four years ahead, so like that can be us one day," Muire said.
For Darragh the team’s determination in challenging conditions was a big factor in securing the win.
He said: "It was a very good moment for the club, a really strong performance even though half the pitch was frost they still put it in until the end.
"I think it's great for them to come back in the replay, to come to the school and to meet them all after having so much trouble trying to win against Finbarr's.
"But they always make a comeback to win, so it's great to see them after all that."
The resilience of the team has taught Delia a lesson on the importance of never giving up.
"No matter how hard stuff gets, your town and county will always support you," she said.
"The support will never end as long as you never give up too," she added.
The visit by the camogie team to the school is extra special for Emily McNamara as her sister Jenny is a member of the Athenry panel.
"It means a lot because she's an amazing camogie player and I know that one day I can be like that as well," Emily said.
With her own hopes of following in her sisters’ footsteps ignited, Emily hopes her classmates will take inspiration from the visit of the All-Ireland winners.
She said: "If they are thinking that they might give up camogie, they shouldn't because they can do that when they are older."
Those sentiments are echoed by Emily’s big sister.
"I think it will encourage other people to start joining camogie and keep it going cause at a young age you might do it for the fun and then quit going into secondary school and be like, oh, it's just a hobby," Jenny said.
Her advice for the next generation is to "keep it up. It's a great sport to play".
For the children of St Oliver Plunkett National School, Athenry's All-Ireland club victory has proved that their playing pitches can lead to glory and maybe one day to their very own field of dreams.
