Ladies Gaelic Football

www.ladiesgaelic.ie | SPRING 2019 | 49 FEATURE down to the field to see them training and looked at them for about 15 mins and the first thing that struck me was that there was great passion and great interest. But they weren't very good to be honest! I think only one of them could actually solo with the ball - Marie Crotty." However, at that time success was not the main priority and the pressures that come with the modern game did not exist back then. "It was a kind of outlet as well, a get together and the social aspect was just that we meet in the field. There was no going out or anything like that" recalls one player. Such was the attraction and enthusiasm that some cycled or walked 8km from the foot of the Comeraghs in the Nire Valley to the Mill Field in the village of Ballymacarbry for each training session. While he was impressed by the attitude and enthusiasm of the players at that first training session, he was also anxious to deter the idea that he might take over the team so he decided to put the 15 players that were present through an incredibly gruelling training session, so tough that it caused some players to be physically sick. Hoping that such a hard line approach would force the players to rethink their managerial choice, he scheduled another training session for the following evening. However, things didn't exactly go according to plan as instead of there being 15 players in attendance, there were 17 and so it all took off from there. Despite having moved managerial codes from ladies football to men's football and in more recent years to hurling, Michael has still always maintained a huge interest and passion for the ladies game. One of the reasons he gives for this is, he likes the product! According to him "Ladies football is probably in some ways a better product than the It was a kind of outlet as well, a get together and the social aspect was just that we meet in the field men's football is. It hasn't yet been tarnished by negative coaching, there's a refreshing honesty about it and there's also the fact that teams go out to try and win the game." This he says was reflected in the Waterford victory last week, "it was a breath of fresh air to see such an attack-minded team because nowadays everybody seems to concentrate on putting everything, including the team bus behind the ball". One of the things that Michael has been most impressed by is the continued development of ladies football since the association was founded in 1974. He acknowledges some of the notable changes and reflects on where the association has come from. He vividly remembers the 1982 Munster club final taking place in what he describes as "a farmer's field" covered in weeds and nettles and with broken goal- posts. Four years later Waterford would contest the first ladies football game to be held in Croke Park, beating Wexford in the 1986 junior All-Ireland final. Since then, the ladies All-Ireland finals have been a permanent fixture in the Croke Park venue and in 2018 attracted a record-breaking attendance of 50,141, a far cry from the weeds and nettles encountered in 1982. Achieving such attendance figures in addition to building relationships with partners such as TG4 and Lidl, have, in Michael's opinion, had a significant positive impact on the game and are a direct result of the relentless efforts of the LGFA to improve and promote the game. When asked to reflect on his proudest moment during his involvement with Waterford ladies football he chooses Waterford's victory over Monaghan in the 1998 All-Ireland final replay - the first ladies football final to be broadcast live. Michael describes this victory as being particularly sweet as they had lost the 1997 All-Ireland to the same opposition, a game made famous for the 11 minutes and 52 seconds of injury time played and incidentally, the reason for the introduction of the countdown timer, which is now a distinctive feature of the ladies game. Such forward thinking and innovation are among the reasons why Michael is so proud of his links with the association. As for his prediction on where Waterford ladies football is heading following on from the recent league final victory over Kerry, he simply responds "who knows what will happen, but these are most definitely exciting times".

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