Doireann raring to get going again
LADIES FOOTBALL
Daire Walsh
FOLLOWING a ‘frustrating’ spell on the sidelines with a back injury, Cork ladies football captain Doireann O’Sullivan is hoping to play a part in her side’s All-Ireland Championship group opener against Cavan at Cusack Park, Mullingar today (throw-in 3.30pm).
The Mourneabbey attacker last featured for the Leesiders in their emphatic league triumph over Mayo on March 24 – scoring 1-2 in her sole start of the season to date. This was preceded by fleeting cameos against Monaghan and Donegal, but she was forced to watch on as Ephie Fitzgerald’s stormed their way to another Division 1 title.
Whilst she was kept busy behind the scenes in her new role as team skipper, the five-time Celtic Cross winner is eager for a return to competitive action.
“That’s one word for it, frustrating. You’re extremely bored more than anything else. You’re watching the girls training, watching the girls playing championship matches and you’re missing out.
“You feel a small bit sorry for yourself, but I went back training there last week and rehab is going well. I hope to have a say and a part to play in the Championship,” O’Sullivan said.
“Ephie is a good delegator. Just chatting to the girls before matches, organising a few things. There’s no real responsibility. I hope my main job this year is to lift a cup. Everyone else pulls together and we all work hard. There’s loads of leaders on the team, so it makes my job an awful lot easier.”
In her absence, Clonakilty goalkeeper Martin O’Brien assumed temporary control of the captaincy and followed up the league success by guiding the Rebelettes towards a third Munster crown under Fitzgerald’s watch.
Alongside O’Brien, the experience of O’Sullivan’s sister Ciara – her predecessor as team leader – has also proved vital in recent months. Nevertheless, in comparison to the side that last tasted All-Ireland glory in 2016, this is a relatively young Cork outfit.
Having introduced Republic of Ireland soccer international Saoirse Noonan into last year’s set-up, Fitzgerald has also added a host of new players in 2019. O’Sullivan views this as testament to the work being done at the underage grades within the county.
“If you look at the underage structures, the U14s won the All-Ireland final this year. The U16s had their All-Ireland semi-final on Wednesday. The minor are still in their campaign. That is reflected at senior level.
“We’ve a lot of young girls this year. The two Kielys (Daire and Eimear), Claire O’Shea, Sadhbh O’Leary. We used the league campaign to give everyone a chance and to try new people in new positions. A bit experimental and thankfully we came out on top.”
The 2018 All-Ireland finals in Croke Park (senior, intermediate and junior) represented yet another milestone for the LGFA. Smashing the previous record of 46,826 that witnessed the previous year’s decider between Dublin and Mayo, an historic attendance of 50,141 saw the Sky Blues retaining the Brendan Martin Cup at Cork’s expense.
The crowds for women’s sports events in Ireland has been gradually increasing in recent years, but there remains significant scope for growth in this particular area. That is one of the main aims behind the 20×20 campaign that was launched by the creative agency, Along Came A Spider, in October of last year.
The stated aim of the initiative is to have a 20% enhancement in participation levels, media coverage and attendance figures in women’s sport by the end of 2020.
O’Sullivan has thrown her full support behind this movement, which she believes can help to bring a substantial divide that continues to exist across all sports.
“It’s excellent. We’re constantly trying to close that gap between male and female equality in sport. The 20×20 campaign is letting us do that. Huge drive to improve participation, improve attendance at games and they’re driving that hugely. Hopefully the standard of football showcased in the matches will match that drive for attendance.”
One persisting issue highlighted recently by O’Sullivan was that of travelling expenses for the Cork squad. She spoke openly on this subject at last month’s Off The Ball Roadshow in St Finbarr’s and reiterated her belief that it can’t continue into the future.
“I think some people were shocked by that. That’s we don’t get our expenses covered.
“To me it’s not right. I actually made a list of the girls who are travelling, who aren’t living in the city.
“It’s frightening when you put pen to paper, the kilometres girls are travelling to get to training.
“Minimum three nights a week, we’ve three pitch sessions a week and then you’ve the gym or whatever on top of that.
“Coming from Beara, Dunmanway, Dublin, Limerick. It’s not right to be out of pocket to represent. It’s not good enough at this stage.”
O’Sullivan has also acknowledged, however, that the association are beginning to move in the right direction and feels the staging of this year’s All-Ireland semi-finals at GAA HQ is another positive step forward.
“That’s super exciting. We only had one major event on the LGFA calendar and that was always the final in Croke Park. Now they’ve matched and the semi-finals will be on in Croke Park. That’s hugely exciting.
It’s a huge prize to win after a quarter-final. To get a chance to play in Croke Park. All you want growing up is the dream to play in Croker,” O’Sullivan added.