ALANNAH PRIZEMAN looked the part as one of the Girls in Green — but she also always wanted to be all white on the night.

And having already fulfilled a dream in a different sport, Prizeman is now living one out in another as part of the Kildare senior ladies football panel.

Having first played soccer as an eight-year-old in her home town of Naas, Prizeman had aspirations of representing Ireland at international level.

And she did just that as recently as April 2023 when she featured off the bench for the Irish Under-19s in a European Championship qualification game against Croatia in Norway.

Then, just under four months later, she featured for Kildare in a ZuCar All-Ireland Under-18 ‘A’ Football Championship final defeat to Galway at Pearse Park.

The experience only served to further fuel a long-held ambition to line out for the Lilywhites at senior level.

And that dream was realised at Manguard Park on January 26 this year when she was handed a competitive debut for the Lidl National Football League Division 1 opener at home to Waterford.

Prizeman, 19, said: “It has always been a dream of mine to play for Kildare and wear the white jersey. Now that I’m getting the chance to do that at the moment, it’s a dream come true.

“I had dreams in Gaelic football and with soccer as well to play for Ireland. I did play underage for Ireland so that dream came true and then I always wanted to play senior for Kildare.”

Another big personal milestone that Prizeman achieved back in 2023 was a first-team debut for Shamrock Rovers against Treaty United in the Women’s Premier Division, three years after she joined the Dublin club as an Under-17 player.

She went on to make a total of 18 senior appearances for the Hoops before leaving at the beginning of this year.

While receiving a sports scholarship from DCU as a soccer player means she continues to play the sport within the college, Prizeman’s primary focus for now is on establishing herself as a Kildare senior.

But she harbours that ambition while holding on to happy memories of playing alongside a couple of Ireland legends with the Hoops.

She said: “I loved my time at Shamrock Rovers. Even underage, it was probably the best years of my life.

“Obviously playing with players like Áine O’Gorman and Stephanie Zambra last year and the year before was incredible.

“I always tried to do both, play Gaelic and soccer.

“Gaelic was kind of kicked to the side for the last however many years. I was with Shamrock Rovers, so I just decided to give it a change for the year and just see how it goes.

“I’m really happy with my decision at the moment because obviously we’re doing well with Kildare and I’m really enjoying it.”

She has certainly joined the panel at an exciting period for the Lilywhites as they find themselves in the top tier of the NFL for the first time since 2012.

The Leinster side have lost out to Waterford and Kerry so far in the league but also recorded a famous win over Dublin at Manguard Park on February 2, with Prizeman the goalscoring hero of the 1-8 to 0-8 victory.

The former St Mary’s College, Naas student also rattled the net in Kildare’s 1-13 to 2-7 loss to Waterford on the opening weekend.

And after the frustration of falling short that day, she was thrilled to pick up some much-needed points against the Jackies.

She added: “When we went to training, we trained hard and we weren’t scared or anything going into the Dublin game.

“We knew we could put up a fight and we were delighted then that we got the win by a goal. Obviously I’m delighted to help the team in any way. The goal against Dublin, it kind of just fell to me, I kind of just swung my leg at it and delighted that it went in in the end.”

NEW ERA

Kildare will be on the road for their next three games in Division 1 before their regular league campaign concludes on March 29 at home to Tyroneat Cedral St Conleth’s Park.

It will be the first time the Lilies ladies will have played at the Newbridge venue since it was revamped to host 15,000 spectators.

So togging out there will be an entirely new experience for Prizeman, who said: “It’s going to be wonderful to get back home, never mind playing in St Conleth’s Park.

“I’ve actually never played there, even before it was done up. It’s going to be a big occasion. Only delighted to be playing there!”

But the next major focus for Kildare is their clash with league leaders Meath in Dunboyne tomorrow week.

After missing out on last Sunday’s defeat to Kerry due to a bout of tonsilitis, Prizeman is hoping to be back involved for the all-Leinster showdown.

She said: “Meath have been doing very well. It will be a tough challenge but we’re up to playing anyone and we’re working hard towards Meath for the next week and hopefully we can get a good result next Sunday.

“We’re still training but the week off from a match should be good for us and we’ll get back into the swing of things then.”