Ashling Hutchings profiled
Name? Ashling Hutchings. Age? 30. Occupation? Post-Primary teacher. Position? Halfback.
Career highlight? With Fermoy it would definitely be being involved with the progression of the team from junior level up to senior status and getting to play with the girls I have grown up with and consider as best friends.
From a county perspective, naturally career highlights would usually revolve around winning Munster and All-Ireland medals, but from my point of view my career highlight is somewhat ongoing as I see the major highlight as still getting the opportunity to wear a Cork jersey and represent my county. Ultimately my time will end with Cork (sooner rather than later unfortunately) and I think I will look back and consider my highlights as the little moments, the hard trainings we survived, the matches we won and lost, and most importantly the friendships I made along the way.
In club or county, I don’t see my career highlight as one defining moment but more as the little things that inevitably lead to those moments of joy. Success isn’t built overnight and in the unpredictable world of sport, holding out for that one defining career highlight could make you miss or underappreciate all the highlights in between.
Favourite film? The Greatest Showman. Favourite food? I’m a big fan of cereal - they do say breakfast is the most important meal of the day! When and where did you first start playing? I started playing when I was about 8 in St Colman’s pitch and thankfully haven’t looked back since.
Favourite venue? I love getting to play in Fermoy. There is something special about playing in your home grounds. Also, playing in bigger stadiums like Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Croke Park is amazing. Favourite player? From the ladies’ game I would say my favourite player is Deirdre O’Reilly as she was always so solid in the backline. From the men’s game then I think it would have to be Jack McCaffrey. He is so fast and such a tenacious defender.
Sportsperson you would most like to meet? Simone Biles.
What is the hardest part of your sporting life? It’s difficult to pick what the hardest part is because there is so much enjoyment. People always talk about sacrifices and what you miss out on when you play a sport at a high level but I believe the benefits far outweigh anything else. I suppose if I was to pick something hard I would say loosing and accepting defeat is challenging. I ultimately believe that it makes you hungrier as a player and makes winning all that better but I guess loosing, especially if you have under-performed, is quite hard and takes time to overcome.
Toughest player to mark in training? There are too many to pick! Abbie Scannell is one I would always like to avoid as she never stops running! We have a lot of the underage girls coming through to our panel in the last few years who are all extremely fast and fit, like Sinead O’Sullivan, Katie O’Flynn, Ruby Coffey, Aoibhe Carey, to name just a few, so my list of players I need to avoid is getting longer and longer! Laziest player you’ve played with? Anyone who doesn’t go to the line. The girls are probably sick of me shouting it all the time, but I have a massive pet-peeve of people who don’t go to the line in running.
Joker on the panel? Marie Bailey (especially when combined with Teresa Murphy in warm ups!). Greatest influence growing up? My parents – They are always my no. 1 supporters and always encourage me to work-hard and commit 100% to anything I do. Would you change anything about football? I don’t think there is too much I would change about the game but would like more consistency in the application of the rules as it varies greatly depending on who is refereeing. That can be hard as a player as what is deemed fine by one could be a clear foul for another so having to adjust your play can be frustrating.
Most important skill in football? I think the kick pass is a really important skill as it can speed up the game and can really help exploit defences. I guess as a back I would also have to say that blocking is really important and something which can really lift a team during a match. One thing you may not know about me? I’m a vegetarian.
Advice for young players starting off? Listen and try to learn from every coach you have. They are trying to help you become the best player you can be so really try to take their feedback on board. I would always encourage every player to work hard and try to develop the basic skills on both right and left side, but most importantly I would remind them to have fun. Sport is more than winning and I think to get the most out of it you really have to enjoy it!
Lastly pick your own 6 aside inter county team? Football.
Goalkeeper? Martina O’Brien (Cork). Fullback? Angela Walsh (Cork). Halfback? Melissa Duggan (Cork). Midfielder? Louise Ward (Galway). Half forward? Ciara O’Sullivan (Cork).
Full forward? Aimee Mackin (Armagh).
LIDL PLUS APP
From Monday, February 15 Lidl are offering its customers a great opportunity to win a reward for their chosen LGFA Club. We would really appreciate it if every household would download the Lidl Plus app and use it to support Fermoy Ladies Football Club when doing their shopping there. Just follow the 4 easy steps below and we could be in with a chance to win. We really appreciate your continued support. Download/open the Lidl Plus app and follow the prompts. Select the club you want to support. Spend over €30 in store and scan your Lidl Plus card to earn a stamp (over €60 = 2 stamps, over €90 = 3 stamps, etc). Collect 6 stamps and submit your completed stamp card by Sunday, April 11th (users can submit multiple completed stamp cards).
REBELS’ BOUNTY DRAW
Fermoy GAA are promoting Rebels’ Bounty Draw as a vehicle to raise funds. All money goes directly to Fermoy GAA. There is now a total prize fund of €500k with a whopping €100k for December 21.