Ollie Canning

Ollie Canning

Personal information
Irish name	Olibhéar Ó Cainín
Sport	Hurling
Position	Left Corner Back
Born	1977 Portumna, County Galway
Nickname	Ollie
Club(s)
Years	Club
	Portumna
Club Titles
Galway titles	5
Connacht titles	3
All-Ireland Titles	3
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
1996 - 2010	Galway
Inter-county titles
Connacht titles	3
All Irelands	0
NHL	4
All Stars	4

Oliver 'Ollie' Canning (born 1977 in Portumna, County Galway) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Portumna and was a member of the Galway senior inter-county team from 1996 to 2010.

Early & private life

Ollie Canning was born in Portumna, County Galway in 1977. He was educated locally and from an early age he showed a great interest in hurling. Canning later attended the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) where he studied mechanical engineering. Here he played on the college hurling team, winning a Fitzgibbon Cup title in the mid-1990s. Canning currently works with Western Postform Ltd. a leading manufacturer of fitted furniture, kitchens, Lab & School furniture & built in wardrobes in Ballinasloe which is in county Galway. Ollie is an older brother of Joe Canning, another Portumna hurler who is tipped for greatness in the coming years.

Playing career

Club

Canning plays his club hurling with his local Portumna team. He enjoyed some success at underage level and won a senior county championship medal in 2003. It was the club's first county triumph. This was later converted into a Connacht club hurling title. Two years later in 2005 Canning won his second county championship title before once again claiming a provincial club medal. On St. Patrick's Day, 2006 Portumna defeated Newstownshandrum to win the All-Ireland club final. A third set of county and provincial medals followed in 2007 and he received the Tommy Moore cup as captain of the club side when they were successful again in the All-Ireland club championship of 2008. Portumna defeated Offaly champions Birr on that occasion.

Inter-county

In the early 1990s Canning's hurling talent was spotted and he quickly joined the Galway minor hurling panel. He played in the All-Ireland minor final in 1993, however, Galway were defeated on that occasion by Kilkenny. The following year Canning's side bounced back and defeated Cork to capture the All-Ireland title. Two years later Canning was a member of the GAlway under-21 panel as the county captured the All-Ireland title in that grade.

That same year Canning earned a call up to the Galway senior team. He was a member of the panel as the county won the National Hurling League. Later that summer he made his senior championship debut as a substitute against Wexford in the All-Ireland semi-final. Canning retired from the inter-county scene for almost two years after this but returned as a forward before moving in to the corner-back position in 2000. That year he won his first National League medal on the field of play. In 2001 Galway reached the All-Ireland final for the first time in eight years. Tipperary provided the opposition on that occasion, however, Galway were unable to withstand the Tipp attack and lost the game by three points. In spite of this Canning's performance in the championship earned him his first All-Star award. Galway's hurlers faced a lean period following this, however, Canning's performances earned him a second All-Star award in 2003. Two years later in 2005 Galway were back on top. The team defeated Kilkenny in a thrilling All-Ireland semi-final before later meeting Cork in the All-Ireland final. Unfortunately Canning ended up on the losing side in an All-Ireland final for the second time, however, he did win a third All-Star award. Following Galway's exit from the 2006 championship Canning decided to retire from inter-county hurling.^[1]

In the 2008 National League Canning's brother, Joe, made his long-awaited senior debut. Shortly after this Ollie Canning announced that he was coming out of retirement to rejoin the Galway senior hurling team.^[2] He captained the Galway team in 2008 and 2009, and won a fourth All Star in 2009.

In July 2010, following Galway's elimination from the All Ireland Championship, Canning retired from inter-county hurling for a second time.^[3]

Inter-provincial

Canning also lined out for Connacht in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He captured two Railway Cup medals in 1999 and 2004.

Sporting positions
Preceded by Liam Hodgins	Galway Senior Hurling Captain 2004	Succeeded by Liam Donoghue
Preceded by David Collins	Galway Senior Hurling Captain 2008-2009	Succeeded by Shane Kavanagh
Achievements
Preceded by Tom Coogan (Ballyhale Shamrocks	All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Final winning captain 2008 2009	Succeeded by Incumbent

Teams

References

1. ^ "Ollie Canning quits Galway hurling". RTÉ News. 2008-01-30. http://www.rte.ie/sport/2007/0130/galway.html. Retrieved 2008-04-15. 
2. ^ "Canning comes out of inter-county retirement". RTÉ News. 2008-04-15. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2008/0415/canning.html. Retrieved 2008-04-15. 
3. ^ "Ollie Canning confirms retirement". RTÉ News. 2010-07-27. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2010/0727/canningo.html. Retrieved 2010-07-27. 

Persondata
Name	Canning, Ollie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1977
Place of birth	Portumna
Date of death
Place of death