Ladies Gaelic Football

ladiesgaelic.ie // 47 G4M&O IN GRANARD Volume 14 | Issue No 3 | PEIL Autumn Deniese O'Flaherty describes her experience etting up a G4M&O team in our area came from a conversation between mothers at a football match. At the end of July I got a text from my friend Anne asking would I come on board to help form a G4M&O team. Not having put on a pair of football boots in years, I jumped at the chance of helping out and being a selector. I never thought I'd end up playing and wanting to be on the opposite side of the white line. We had a meeting and said we'd do the required six weeks and then see where we'll go from there. I think after our first (tough but good) training session we thought this could lead to something. After our fourth session we were planning our Christmas party and asked our trainer Jimmy could we find somewhere to train during the winter months. We signed registration forms for our fifth session. Granard G4M&O was not a dream anymore but a reality.I have to admit I was somewhat emotional when we decided to form a team. Anyone that knows me, knows how much I love GAA and where I'm from. I'm really looking forward to what the future holds for us; no doubt there'll be lots of fun and laughter. I think G4M&O is a fantastic initiative. It's a social outlet and a break from everyday life for mothers and other women. It introduces the game to women who have never played it before and also gives women a chance to take it back up again after taking a break for whatever reason; mainly having children. It's also a way to help women get fit with others from their area and in a fun way. When you look at the GAA as an organisation, women play such an important role. There is not a club in the country that doesn't have a woman involved in the committee or the running of a club in some way. It's great that now mothers and others can go out and play the game. As a sports journalist I love nothing better than going to games. I've also done a foundation course for coaching and hope to progress with that but as I said to former Longford star Niall Sheridan a few weeks ago, I'll pursue a career in management when I give up playing. I'm still young enough, ahem, to still play. The great thing about G4M&O is that age is really just a number. We have such a great spread of ages in Granard and I know that's the same with other teams around the country. We also have a good selection of mothers and others. I was like a child in a sweet shop when I visited O'Neill's to buy my football boots, socks, gumshield etc. I was so excited. As our first training session approached I found myself saying "what have I got myself into?" When I was young, I was a tomboy. You'd find me out in our local green playing football/soccer or at a match. Who'd have guessed eh! We didn't have a team in our school so when I got the chance to play GAA for Community Games I jumped at the chance. I wasn't a great outfield player but had aspirations of being a goalkeeper so ended up between the posts; I loved it. I played a S IN GRANARD Ladies practice their football skills at Gaelic4Mothers&OthersLaunch

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