Darragh is longing for the day when ladies football returns to the playing field
“Sport can get you through everything”
THIS should have been a very exciting week for the Kerry senior ladies footballers.
Barring any unexpected slip-ups in their final two Division Two encounters (away to Meath and at home to Clare), the Kingdom girls would have been preparing for Sunday’s Lidl National League Final, safe in the knowledge that they were already promoted to the top flight for 2021.
With the shackles well and truly off, and management’s stated ambition to bring the team back to Division One having been achieved, Anna Galvin and her colleagues would have been buzzing at showcasing their burgeoning improvement in a national decider.
However, as with just about every other aspect of sporting life, the dreaded Covid-19 virus has put a stop to the Kerry ladies’ gallop. Not just for now it seems though. Indeed, their 2020 progression has now hit what appears to be a permanent roadblock.
On Tuesday, March 24, the governing body of ladies football in Ireland, the LGFA, released a statement announcing that their National League programme would not be completed. Simple as that. Done and dusted.
So far, the powers-that-be in camogie, hurling and gaelic football have kept their powder dry as they analyse the growing crisis facing this country and beyond, before they come to any potentially final decisions.
Having won their opening five games, Kerry were odds-on to be contemplating mouth-watering National League tussles with the likes of Dublin, Galway, Cork and Mayo next year. At this moment in time, their dreams have been shattered.
Not easy for joint-manager Darragh Long to pick up the pieces.
“Yeah, a couple of weeks have passed now. Initially, we were very disappointed because it came as such a shock to us. We had been given no idea that this decision was about to be made,” he said.
“Of course, we fully understand the circumstances behind it, the way the whole world is being turned upside down by this virus. But, from a selfish point of view, there were only two games left to go. Maybe the call made was a bit premature. We feel that they should have postponed rather than cancelling outright.”
Having been appointed as the new management team on a three-year deal late last year, Long, fellow joint-boss Declan Quill, and selectors Geraldine O’Shea, Anne Maria O’Donoghue and Cassandra Buckley (also strength and conditioning coach), had made promotion to Division One for 2021 their biggest goal for their opening campaign at the helm.
“It’s fair to say that Kerry ladies football has been through a bit of a turbulent time over the last number of years. There has been something like six different managements in the last five or six years,” added Long.
“We signed up for a three-year term and we put a plan in place to eventually get to the All-Ireland Final. We set up little building blocks as we went, and the National League was huge for us this year.
“It has been fantastic since we got together in early November. We are all learning off each other, getting the confidence of the girls. The League Final was a nailed-on certainty for us. We had no fear over who we would meet later in the year. Up to the cancellation, everything was rosy in the garden.”
How have the girls reacted?
“When the announcement was made they were absolutely gutted. It was a bombshell. They had been doing three running sessions, two gym sessions, they had a focus. Some of the girls were getting ready for the Leaving Cert, others for college exams.
“Sport is great for the demons in your brain, exercise gives you positive endorphins. Then the carpet was pulled from under them, and they were left in limbo.
“We stepped back as a management for a while. But the group got back in touch with us to ramp things up again. There is a huge amount of trust there.
“We have set up a private Facebook page, live training sessions while everybody is at home, through Cassandra. She is top notch, and is giving the girls home work-outs to do too.
“Having the structure of a training plan can get you through the week because, for everybody right now, the days are very long. Doing it as part of a group, with everybody commenting on each other, has been so good for the girls. And they have come back to us now looking for more to do!”
Could the LGFA have a possible rethink regarding the League sometime down the line?
“We have heard nothing. I would hope that the powers-that-be would see a little sense in this. They haven’t called off the championship yet. If they decide that they can play a watered-down version of a championship, then they can’t just tell us on a Friday that you can go back training on Sunday and then you are out against Dublin the following week, if they decided to do a draw like that,” stressed the Austin Stacks man.
“Ladies football is one of the fastest growing sports in the country, and you want to promote the games as good as possible. Therefore, if we do get back training, you would need to give teams three or four weeks to get up and running before championship.
“We would love to play those remaining two league games during those four weeks of championship preparations. Doesn’t that make sense? Cancel the finals if they want, but finish out the leagues.
“Galway are top of Division One, they haven’t won a league title in 20 or 25 years. Look at Kildare top of Division Three, they deserve their shot at promotion. Obviously, all those teams prepared hugely at the start of the season, they hit the ground running, and you have to be rewarded for that.
“If the league is just stopped for good now, do they just reverse the fixtures next year? We won three tough games against Armagh, Tyrone and Monaghan at home. Will we now have to travel to those counties next year? That’s not fair.
“If that’s the case, then we are just after playing glorified challenge matches this year that mean nothing. We would end up with having got absolutely no benefit from our home fixtures this year.
“Sport can get you through everything. We truthfully miss what we are doing. There is a huge bond, huge trust, superbly committed bunch of dedicated players there.
“I think ten girls have got their inter-county senior debuts this year. Then you look at the likes of Aislinn Desmond, Lorraine Scanlon and Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh. They have had a lot of barren years, but the whole set-up has given them a huge boost in their own abilities and in the girls around them.
“Look at Louise, she has found a new lease of life this year. What’s she scored? 7-25 in five league matches. That is absolutely frightening. She is playing for Kerry since she was 16.
“It just shows how important sport is. We totally understand why we are where we are. But if, and when, this blows over, we would hope that the LGFA would revisit their decision on the league,” added Long.
Kerry are due to play Waterford in the Munster Championship in June before the All-Ireland format takes over in July. Will that even happen now?
“It’s impossible to say. Deep down, I hope that some form of football is played, even if it’s a watered-down championship.
“Our girls would gladly play in September and October, and I’m so sure so would every other county. I honestly hope that we haven’t lost the whole year,” expressed Kerry’s joint-manager.
For now, Darragh Long is spending his Covid-19 experience working, mostly from home, with AIB Bank, like his wife Niamh, and keeping a protective eye on children Conor (4) and Aoibhin (2). While also hoping that the Kerry ladies wear the green and gold again in 2020. And that all their hard work up to now wasn’t for absolutely nothing.