Ladies Gaelic Football

www.ladiesgaelic.ie | SPRING 2019 | 31 FEATURE "a team we never thought we could beat and never did until that day" under Ger. It took a year or two of tough defeats but then came a couple of exhilarating wins. One stands out in particular. The first round of the Leinster senior championship against Heywood of Ballinakil, a team we never thought we could beat and never did until that day. A titanic battle on our home turf, Scoil Chríost Rí coming out on top. It was the start of something special in the school and proof that hard work, belief and determination goes a long way. That win instilled a belief that we were good enough. Success began to follow. week. Tuesday mornings at 8am and Thursday evenings. The pitch was divided evenly when the CBS were training on the same evenings as us but for every boy training there were 3 girls. Competition for places was fierce and drove us further into the All – Ireland series. All Ireland Final day came. We had to contend with a very strong Virginia college side. Preparation was always key for Geraldine, she kept us steady even as the hype around the game escalated. Cards and good luck were arriving to the school, one from Eamon Ryan wishing us the best in the final. Eamon taking his time to write us a card just shows the character of Geraldine and how proud he was of her leading a team to an All -Ireland Final in a coaching capacity. The scenes at the final whistle in Kinnegad that day were incredible. We were All Ireland Champions. The work, dedication and vision from Geraldine and her back room team was evident and we had gone where no other team had before. 2014 started with a meeting on the first day of term. We were competing in the B competition now and Geraldine and Pat highlighted the need to up our performance and standards to be able to compete and be successful at this level. From the get go the vision was the same, another Leinster and All Ireland was deemed a reality with the talent in the school. We won the Leinster B Senior final that year and saw ourselves in line for another All Ireland Final appearance. We overcame a determined Ballygawley side to Glenamaddy in the final. Simply put, they were a far superior to us that year. The standard of Ladies Gaelic football since then has blossomed and the teams in Scoil Chroíst Rí that have experienced both success and failure brings them where they are today. Today's success is a product of the culture change that Geraldine instilled. She brought her experiences with Cork and applied the same principles in a school setting Almost 10 years on from my first day in Scoil Chríost Rí, I found myself as a spectator at the Post Primary Schools Senior 'A' final in March. Chríost Ri faced Loretto Clonmel, and I found that even sitting in the stands, I had that same belief that I experienced as a player. The positive and ambitious culture continues to thrive in Scoil Chríost Rí - they are a very special group of players who deserve every success and more. Niamh Dunne is a participant in the PR/Media strand of the LGFA Female Leadership Programme. This Page Clockwise from Top: 1 Pat Critchley. 2 Geraldine O'Flynn, in the TG4 All- Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Final v Dublin 2014. 3 Emma Lawlor, Eabha Dunne and Erone Fitzpatrick, celebrate. 4 Aoife Daly, Scoil Chríost Rí, , in action against Kathryn Hamill, St Ronan's College. 5 Captain Emma Lawlor, with the cup after the. Lidl All Ireland Junior A PPS Championship Final 2016 2013 was a memorable one, winning a Senior Leinster C Final. This was the first final the school had experienced in a long time and the hype around it was enormous. We trained twice a

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