Few and far between in Wicklow soccer

WHEN it comes to football and women in Co. Wicklow, it is a case of few and far between. At one end of the spectrum, you have Louise Quinn, Aine O’Gorman and Claire Walsh. Massive success stories that have played at the highest level both at home and abroad and are no strangers to the green jersey.

Yet, despite this, the next Quinn, O’Gorman or Walsh will struggle to find a path to success unless they look outside of their own county.

Things have improved since they all started out – of that there’s no doubt. But there is still so much work to be done.

Even the title of the WDSL itself is encouraging – the Wicklow Schoolboy/Girls League. Girls are of course encouraged to play football but once they’ve hit a certain age, they have to leave the nest of the mixed team and find an all-girls team which is easier said than done depending on what part of the county you are from.

A women’s league in the WDFL has been mooted and what a fantastic addition that would be. Currently there is little or no female involvement in the senior ranks of Wicklow soccer that we’re aware of. It is an all-male executive committee of the WDFL and all club secretaries are male too.

The WDSL bucks that trend slightly with two female members of their committee and a heavy female involvement throughout the club scene.

To our knowledge, there are no female referees on the scene at the moment either. Is it that females have no interest in getting involved or is the all-male barrier too daunting? That’s something we can only ponder.

For football in Wicklow to succeed, everyone needs to row in the same direction. It doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female; you just simply have to have everyone’s best interests at heart.

But how wonderful would it be to see more females getting heavily involved at any level?

That could be all it takes to inspire the next Irish superstar from the Garden County. AINE O’Gorman may have stumbled into the world of football but she pretty quickly fell in love with it. She now prays and hopes that more young girls will follow in her footsteps and discover the joys of competing and playing as part of a team.

Not everyone will go on to represent their country dozens and dozens of times but it is the journey – and not the destination – that counts.

Approximately 22 years ago, Aine’s destination was the sideline of her brother Seamus’ training sessions. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, it wasn’t long before