It was February 2002 and I hadn’t seen or kicked a football in nearly five years. The sudden and somewhat unexpected winding up of Carna LGFA at the end of our third and most successful year had brought the curtain down on my fledgling career and left me with many happy and proud memories. With…
When Grainne Mhaols first entered the ranks of adult football in the Spring of 2002, I was very happy and pleased that my daughter Lorna expressed an interest and decided to take the plunge. My role was merely to offer parental support as I had done one year previously for my younger daughter Patricia who…
My initial introduction to the gaelic sporting experience was through the primary school competitive structures of the nineties. My two children Shane and Ciara attended our local school in Lettergesh and there was a very intense footballing rivalry between the four schools of the parish at that time. Shane was able to further his involvement…
In 2010 I completed level one of the GAA Coaching Course in Galway Community College, Moneenageisha, Galway. This course was the first of its kind organised by the GAA and is now essential for training and coaching youth in Gaelic football. Upon completion of this course, I was asked by Denis Carr, tutor with Connacht…
On a cold, damp, dark Monday evening on February 18th 2002, fourteen girls from West Connemara gathered on the sand pitch of the Connemara Rugby Club to commence the first ever training session of the Gráinne Mhaols Junior B team. That night, with sand invading the nostrils, lungs screaming for oxygen and heavy limbs desperately…
