The Loughiel sharpshooter rarely misses. She slotted 0-10 (4 frees) in their last outing and nine frees (100%) in the 2022 All-Ireland final, a talismanic leader in a team that lost six consecutive Ulster finals before last year’s provincial breakthrough.

Yet the Antrim star plays with a condition that could have finished her career before it even took off.

Ask McCormick about injuries and she laughs, quipping that she has a painful big toe at the moment (possibly arthritis)and has suffered “a few broken arms and some bad ligament injuries’ in the past.

And then she drops a quiet bombshell.

“I have scoliosis (curvature of the spine) which I don't think is talked about enough. Mine is a very high degree, over 40% at this point. It is noticeable.” 

She was offered corrective surgery when she was 15 but flatly refused because “they said I wouldn't be allowed to play sport anymore because they put metal rods and bolts into your back. I was like: 'No, I'll take the high road and take camogie’.

"I was very insecure about it for years, always nervous in case people noticed it but a lot of my friends reassured me, told me I was over-thinking everything. It doesn't overly affect me but I do have a sore back occasionally. It's just part of who I am so I just have to embrace it."

As if that’s not tough enough McCormick studies sports science in TU Dublin so, during term time, every club and county training session necessitates a six-hour round-trip home.

Her academic speciality and personal experience makes her particularly interested in the preponderance of ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) knee injuries in female athletes, who are two to eight times more likely than men to tear their ACLS and have a 25% lower chance of returning to sport within five years.

Cruciate injury continues to scourge even those with top-class professional support systems, as evidenced by the large numbers it ruled out of last summer’s FIFA World Cup, including England’s Beth Mead and her Arsenal teammate, Vivianne Miedema of the Netherlands,

Cork and Kilkenny’s camogs have each been hit by a trio of ACL injuries in recent seasons as has her own club.

"Maeve Connolly, our captain a few years ago, had a baby last year. She started playing again and didn't rush back or anything but did her ACL in a training match.

“Mary McKillen suffered hers when we went back from the county into club championship this year and Una McNaughton is just back playing after finishing her rehab.” 

McCormick’s sister tore an ACL two years ago and she reckons “it's in the back of any female athlete's mind. The numbers are mental at the minute. There has to be more research done into it.”

She is already contributing, as part of a work placement with Movetru, a Belfast company which uses sports technology to measure biomechanics and movement patterns.

“Their kit is able to detect asymmetry and deficiency and whether you have dynamic knee valgus (internal rotation) which is a massive contributor to ACL injuries,” she explains.

Her trials work with Movetru has already allowed her to bring in lots of club and Antrim teammates for assessment.

“Genetics, your movement patterns, your menstrual cycle and your Q-angle (formed between the quadriceps muscles and the patella tendon) are all contributors.

"Everybody’s different. I have quite strong hamstrings but weaker quads, so have to build up my quad strength so there's no imbalance. A lot of girls would have a lot of (hip) adduction as well as knee valgus. That can come down to groin or hip flexors.

“Because I'm still a student I don't tell girls what to do, but I tell them to take this information to a physio to work on,” she stresses.

McCormick is just as much a leader onfield in a Loughiel team hell-bent on beating Dicksboro today to reach a second consecutive final and avenge last year’s three-point loss to the Galway champions.

“Once we got back into the changing room after the final whistle our aim was to be back in that same position a year down the line.

“We're en route to that now, despite quite a few injuries, but we've kind of adapted our game and been able to blood in a lot of new players and bring them up to speed and it’s all paying off.”