All-Ireland hurling champion Mark Rodgers swapped the sliotar for the scroll this week as he celebrated his graduation from the University of Limerick (UL). The 23-year-old Clare man was conferred with an MSc in Business Analytics from Kemmy Business School on Monday, January 20, joining 1,705 others graduating as part of UL’s Winter Conferrings.
It was the cherry on top of a monumental 12 months for Mark, a former UL Sports Scholar, who leaves behind an incredible sporting legacy at the University. A lauded player with both his club Scariff and his county, Mark brought that same level of passion and performance throughout his five years on UL’s GAA scene.
The former Young Hurler of the Year, who played a starring role in the University’s back-to-back Fitzgibbon Cup victories in 2022 and 2023, holds “brilliant memories” of those campaigns—particularly his days playing fresher hurling. “Some of my best friends currently are still people that I met on that freshers team,” said Mark.
“Once college came back mainstream [after the pandemic], and COVID finished up, it was brilliant being on a Fitzgibbon team. I know it’s a cliché, but you’re playing with guys who you would never otherwise play with, and there is something amazing about that. Winning it for the first time was an amazing, amazing feeling. I was actually injured for the final [in 2022], but it spoke to the sort of unit we had, that I didn’t feel in any way different that I wasn’t playing—obviously, a bit disappointed; but very much delighted that we had won.”
Reflecting on 2024, it was of course an incredible year for Mark, who won his first All-Ireland wearing the saffron and blue of The Banner back in July and went on to receive a coveted All-Star for his consistently stellar performances on the pitch. “It was an insane highlight. A lot of people spend their lives trying to win an All-Ireland, so to win one is amazing, along with all the moments that follow that. In that sense, it’s been a brilliant year for me.”
Away from the pitch, Mark counts his time as a postgraduate student in Kemmy Business School as one of his most enjoyable experiences. Moving directly into the MSc in Business Analytics was a natural progression from his undergraduate degree in Technology Management, he says, having found his niche in the intersection between business and technology.
As any high-performing student athlete will know, getting the balance between sport and studies is yet another challenge to add to the list. It’s clear that Mark has exemplary focus when it comes to both his sport and his studies, but he says the supports available to him across the University—from advisors in UL Sport to his lecturers and course directors—were also invaluable. Indeed, he reserves special praise for staff and coaches who were “only an email away” if he needed them.
Having access to top-class facilities, of course, also made the balance “all the easier.” “I spent some time as a student athlete on a scholarship, and the facilities that you have access to are just brilliant—it makes life as a student athlete on campus just so simple,” he explained. “You have these 4G pitches, if you need to do a pitch session or a ball rush session. Then, you have these new Wallball facilities, down by Maguire’s [all-weather pitch], and they’re brilliant as well.”
Looking to the future, Mark is keen to reap the rewards of his hard work off the pitch and embrace the exciting career opportunities ahead.
