Goalkeeper O’Donoghue on her All Star Kerry career
Blennerville’s Andrea O’Donoghue fashioned a career for herself between the sticks despite initially not being a huge fan of the position, writes Con Dennehy
YOU don’t have to be mad to be a goalkeeper, but it certainly helps. That is the oft-held view of those who stand between the sticks in Gaelic football. While the role of the goalkeeper has evolved, you still require that wild streak. Sports pundits believe that goalkeepers are born and not made. However, that was not the case for Blennerville and Kerry goalkeeper Andrea O’Donoghue who arrived on the scene with a bang... literally.
As a juvenile player with St. Pats of Blennerville, Andrea, a die hard Kerry GAA fan, wanted to play on the forward line and soak up the accolades with her point and goal scoring prowess. However, all that changed when she was playing at Under-10 grade.
One evening on the training pitch in Blennerville she just happened to be standing on the goal line, her mind drifting away to other matters, when a nippy forward blazed a ball in her direction. The ball hit her on the head, in what was a freak accident, and with the velocity of the shot she fell on her side as the ball headed to the side line. The coach Denis Healy, unable to see what actually happened due to a crowded square, was so impressed with her “save” that he retired her as a forward and she became the regular goalkeeper on many teams over the remaining decade, culminating with a GAA All Star award.
“I started playing football with St. Pats at the age of seven under the direction of a superb trainer, Denis Healy, and his assistants Paddy Joe Shea and Donal O’Shea. A number of players from that team have played at every level for Kerry from Under-14 right up to senior level.
I was privilege to play with some incredible athletes such as Kerry legends Geraldine O’Shea and Eileen Sayers who won All Ireland medals in 1994. We also had other stars such as Dara Sugrue, Siobhan O’Connor, Jen Healy, Riona Kennedy, Noreen and Joanne Wamlsey playing with us for a few seasons and later we all played on the Kerry senior team and remain lifelong friends,” said Andrea.
Success was a roller coaster for O’Donoghue in her school going years. The Blennerville side were practically unbeatable in the St. Brendan’s Board winning numerous titles from Under 12 to Minor grade. The highlight of her Primary School years was playing in Croke Park in the mini sevens competition as part of a Blennerville NS trio that also included Josephine O’Shea and Fiona O’Dowd.
“That day in Croke Park was really the catalysis I need to improve in sport. I wanted to come back there playing on a Kerry team. I really savoured the atmosphere, the crowds and the excitement of playing on that magical pitch.”
Success followed the young Blennerville star at the National Community Games finals in Mosney in 1990 and 1991 when the Blennerville football team won silver medals on both occasions loosing out to Cong of Mayo.
Her reputation as a quality goalkeeper saw her selected on the St. Pats U-14 side in 1993, however on this occasion it was on the boy’s team, that won the St. Brendan’s
Board championship.
“To begin with I didn’t like goals but I can now say, looking back, I loved it. I loved the wet nights diving on the muck. In fairness we were all as fit as fleas at that time. Denis Healy spent hours training me as a goalkeeper. He would juggle tennis balls and then throw them at me to sharpen my diving skills in the muck. He would then get 5 players kicking balls at me to sharpen my reflexes. Denis was ahead of his time when it came to training and motivation. He was streets and years ahead of other coaches and no stone was left unturned in the quest for perfection and this applied to all players in his care.”
Andrea believes you need to have an unbelievable self-confident player, bordering on cocky, arrogant, and crazy to be a good goalkeeper.
“As a goalkeeper, you’re expected to be perfect. You have players all around you making mistakes and simple errors all the time. This leads to mounting pressure on you to keep the ball out of the net, so that can sometimes come out as anger and frustration. You are shouting and screaming at your defenders so in a way the public perception is that you are half mad. However you have to be comfortable in your own head. That’s the key for any good goalie.”
Andrea was finally drafted into the Kerry under age set up and won two All Ireland U-14 medals in 1992 and 1993 under the stewardship of Denis Healy. Some of the great players on that team were Denis Walsh (Currow), Elaine Mitchell (Currow), Joanne Downey (Castleisland), Ruth Keane (Tralee) and Norma Shanahan
(Abbeydorney). That season she also won an All Ireland U-14 Cup medal for soccer.
Now a regular net minder for Kerry, she was selected on the 1994 Under 16 team, at just 13 years of age, that won the Munster championship. The team lost to Wicklow in the All-Ireland final.
“That Under-16 team was a mighty team with wonderful players from around the county. Most continued on playing and we became the winning Munster and All Ireland minor team of 1995. In the All Ireland final we defeated the hot favourites Wexford. Denis Healy was trainer along with a side