DYNAMIC CATHERINE SETS OFF ON A NEW ADVENTURE
KNOCKNAGREE WOMAN CATHERINE RING HAS BEEN SELECTED AS A MEMBER OF THE LGFA LEARN TO LEAD FEMALE LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME TO RUN NEXT YEAR AT CROKE PARK
Dynamic, motivated and energetic are some of the key attributes of Catherine Ring who was chosen last week to be a member of the LGFA - Learn to Lead, Female Leadership Programme which will run over the next year at Croke Park.
Catherine, a native of Knocknagree, and well known countrywide in sports circles will serve in the Administration Strand of the programme.
The LGFA Programme, launched by the Ladies Gaelic Football Association in 2019, was devised to develop the next generation of female leaders within Ladies Gaelic Football and will be supported this year by Women in Sport funding through Sport Ireland.
The 2021/2022 course will be delivered once again by experts in the fields of coaching, officiating, administration and PR/Media. The final list of 24 participants includes leading coaches, officials, administrators and players, representing the four provinces. “This is a hugely exciting opportunity and I’m really looking forward to being part of the team,” Catherine Ring told The Corkman.
Her enthusiasm for sport knows no bounds, and it’s amazing to see how she manages to ‘ keep all the balls in the air’!. In addition to her new role in the LGFA Programme she is also a Development Officer with the North Cork Board. “This is an important role as there are big plans afoot for development in Cork and I am lucky enough to have new people to help me with this” she said.
She also recently became Secretary with the Cork LGFA. “I think it will take me a while to get used to it, but I am enjoying it so far, it’s very good administration experience” she noted.
“I’m also a member of a steering group aiming to develop a three year plan with Cork Ladies Football. We will be engaging with Clubs and personnel across the County to formulate a roadmap,” she explained. In addition to all of the above, she will also be Fixtures and Female Supervisor with Knocknagree Ladies Football Junior team and will act as Covid Officer if required.
Catherine has been a potent influence in sports circles around North Cork and further afield for many years and was instrumental in setting up Knocknagree Ladies Football Club in April 2011. “That year, there were quite a few Under 12 girls in Knocknagree National School, and as we all know, the girls can no longer play GAA when they are finished with U12, so it made sense to set up our club when they were still Under 12 with the view to building a new club for our area.
“From very small beginnings we worked to build the Club over the years - help from volunteers and trainers was vital as well as parents ferrying their daughters to training and games. We borrowed our first set of jerseys from Knocknagree N.S where Principal DJ
Golden was a great help to us” she explained. Munster Joinery subsequently sponsored kit and the Club got immense support from members of the North Cork Ladies Football Board.
“This has proved invaluable over the years,” Catherine said. “We now field teams from U8 to Junior, the challenges are different at the moment with Covid, but the lockdown gives people a chance to catch up on courses which are delivered remotely so accessible for everyone. It also provides the opportunity to recruit new people for the club as well” Catherine said.
“We had many great days both on and off the pitch as a club and that balance is very important. Due to the continued support of players, parents, trainers, Committee members, the community, Knocknagree & Cullen GAA and National Schools, the divisional and county board we have survived pretty well considering there are two other Ladies Football Clubs nearby,” she said.
In April, our Club will be ten years old, and we are very proud to be able to say that most of the U12 Players from April 2011 are now part of our Junior team which has become the backbone of our club. All the Junior panel are an enormous support.
“They have done the required courses and are now committee members and trainers, available to help out as well as being very committed to their team”.
Catherine has been an avid sports fan from a very young age. “The main sport in our home in Castlemartyr was tennis, especially at Wimbledon time, our mother Kathleen would have the dinner ready early and we would all sit down and watch the tennis and then run down the road to the Tennis Court in the village where we would all meet up after Wimbledon was over and we’d take turns playing tennis for the rest of the day. We lived just 4 miles from the beach in Garryvoe, so we spent the summer days cycling to the beach and swimming. Also at St. Mary’s High School in Midleton we had lots of choices, so I played badminton, tennis, and indoor soccer” she added.
Over the past several years, Catherine has become an avid Athletics fan. “I enjoy the company as much as I enjoy a run. It’s good to catch up with friends and go for a run or go to a race. We have to go it alone at the moment, but I enjoy achieving a distance whether it’s a 5k or 10k, I’m not too pushed about the time, I just like to head out, the day you least feel
like going is often the day you achieve much more than you thought you could” she said.
When asked does she think people have to make a lot of sacrifices to attain optimum fitness and performance Catherine said that it’s a personal choice but that there’s a huge emphasis now on top class nutrition. “Good food choices are vital as well as ‘early to bed’, and reducing alcohol intake” she said.
She notes that any type of sport is hugely beneficial for young people and that individual sport presents different challenges to team sports. “All sports are vital for forming bonds and friendships. In our club I see the immense benefit of being part of a team. Something significant in a player’s life like starting college in a place where they don’t know anyone for instance is a big change, so it’s great to return home on a Friday evening and head to the pitch for training with your friends where you feel secure with those you know well, also it gives people a chance to catch up and maybe chat about something that may be bothering them or just exchange the news from the week,” she said, adding that the social aspect of being part of the team is just as important as training, it motivates the girls to play well for
each other as well as for themselves and their trainers. “At underage not all players go to the same school, so it’s good as well to be able to mix with other people outside school and form new friendships,” she said.
Despite Catherine’s hectic schedule, she likes to wind down by visiting her family in Garryvoe as often as she can, restrictions permitting. “My sister Maggie lives beside the beach so I love getting in a walk- or run by the sea. Also, I’m lucky with the friends I have made as a result of being a member of Mount Hillary Athletic Club and we try to keep in touch, especially now, and when we can, meet up for a coffee, walk, run, or cycle” she said, “I love delving into a good Book as well and I’ve been concocting lots of new dishes during lock down!” she said.
As well as her emerging role as a member of the LGFA, she is also looking forward to another new chapter.
“After being laid off last March, I am starting a very new and exciting position, I will be joining the Retail Development Team with Munster Fire & Safety when they open their new premises in Millstreet, so I am really looking forward to my new workplace, new people, challenges and opportunities,” she said.