HIGGINS IS SWAN DIFFERENT PATH

It had been a huge part of her life, but for the first time in almost two decades, Roscommon’s Jenny higgins has found herself taking a break from the inter-county game in 2023.

a senior panellist since 2010 — having previously impressed for the Connacht side through the various underage grades — higgins will be embarking on a new adventure in the coming weeks.

along with Kerry duo Paris McCarthy and Julie O’Sullivan, the 31-yearold primary school teacher has signed up with Sydney Swans for the forthcoming aFL Women’s season.

Because she is due to touch down in the southern hemisphere for preseason training in June, higgins wasn’t able to commit to the Rossies this year and missed out on their recent Lidl National Football League division 2 campaign.

She acknowledged this was a tough decision, but is nonetheless looking forward to joining forces with the famous Sydney club.

Decision

“It was a difficult decision because it was my first year away from a Roscommon set-up in nearly 20 years. I would have played the whole way through when I was 12, the whole way up.

“I’ve never taken any break really. I was fortunate my club season (with Clann na nGael), we were county champions last year.

“We ran well into November and even at that stage, I kind of was thinking about taking a year out,” explained higgins.

“When the Swans call came there at the start of december, that kind of cemented my decision. One of the big things for them is that they wanted my leadership and my character in or around the dressing room early on.

“they wanted me to be there for pre-season.”

higgins hasn’t completely waved goodbye to Roscommon and is hopeful of featuring for them again at some point in the near future.

She is also keeping a toe within the county game as she is currently taking on a coaching role with the Rossies’ Under-14 girls team.

“I’ve been involved in coaching underage development teams since I wasn’t much more than a teenager myself.

Face

“I think it’s hugely important for girls to give back and for senior players to get involved in the coaching. that whole thing of ‘if they can’t see, they can’t be’.

“When they can actually put a face and they get to know the personality of a county player, it’s something for them to aspire to.”

higgins has picked up her fair share of honours between club and county — she captained the Rossies to an all-Ireland Minor ‘B’ Championship crown in 2009.

In a tG4 all-Ireland Intermediate championship group stage victory against Offaly in 2020, higgins reached a landmark 100th appearance for Roscommon.

“I have really good memories of that year. It’s a huge honour. It’s something that you want the rest of the girls on the team to aspire to as well.”

□ Jennifer higgins is also a Glenveagh homes #Gaelic4Girls ambassador. Your club has the chance to win a training session a #Gaelic4Girls ambassador by submitting an online entry.

Full details are available at: bit.ly/3LtZXVb.