Issue link: http://digitaleditions.uberflip.com/i/1172058
FEATURE www.ladiesgaelic.ie | AUTUMN 2019 | 51 male counterparts. Once they realised you were genuine, they co-operated one hundred percent. It was seldom you'd see any negative body language from a female player. Very seldom". Cody, Harte, Ferguson. You can easily count managers that have been involved with one team for the length of time Ryan has. How do you to keep the players motivated, keep the enthusiasm high, deal with changes that come with the progress of the sport? Ryan cited "loyalty" as being the most vital attribute to the success of this Cork team. "Even when there were times when I felt I would have made stupid mistakes, I always felt the team understood". They seemed to understand that they "were made with the best of intentions". Ryan contributes Cork's success to making ladies football more mainstream than it had been up to then in terms of sporting context. "What I found amazing was, quite often, if I was walking down Patrick street or around the city, which I don't do as much of now, I could easily meet ten men who would be full of admiration for the lady footballers. They could see their application, they could see their workrate, they could see their skill level. It happened organically over the first 5 years. It amazed me. They really captured people's imagination" Given his interest in it, Ryan is still baffled by the lack of support for Ladies Football. "It's kind of ironic that you could have 30, 40, 50,000 people one day of the year (All Ireland Final Day) and yet you mightn't have 500 at the semi final. I find very hard to comprehend". It is a problem that has been evident for many years now. How do you implement change? Ryan believes "you have to be very logical about it. The only way is if women support other women. If un-accompanied males were to appear at ladies games, eyebrows could be raised so the answer is for ladies to support other ladies. The menfolk will go along and not be looked at with any surprise". It's time to develop a culture. Ladies football has steamrolled in terms of increased coverage, player recognition, huge sponsorship deals and massive workrate at grassroots levels. Ryan agrees that Ladies football "will go from strength to strength". The only fear that Ryan has is that "given Cork's supremacy over the years, other teams seem to have dropped their effort a bit. That's just a perception I have. I couldn't fully back that up as I'm out of the scene now but I don't think there's as many contenders as there used to be." In the All Irelands from 2005 to 2013, there were eight different teams strongly contesting All Ireland titles in the likes of Cork, Galway, Armagh, Mayo, Monaghan, Kerry, Tyrone and Dublin. In Munster alone, Kerry and Waterford were accustomed to annihilating Cork in the early 2000's but now, Cork are the dominant force in Munster. It is disappointing to see, given the calibre of teams that were strongly contesting national senior titles a mere decade or so ago. However, it's a game he loves and Ryan is content with being a supporter of Ladies Football going forward. He hopes for competitive games, increased attendances and a greater support for what he feels is a simple game played right. He leaves with great memories. At a macro level he highlights "the friendships that were established and there are times when (he) might call in on these friendships. People would always cooperate and try help me out". Something that still stays with Ryan is how players travelled from Limerick, Dublin, Portlaoise and he never once heard a member of the team complaining that it was costing them time or money to be there. They just seemed to "get on with it". "There was a kind of a girlish enthusiasm, about the whole thing which was sort of contagious if you like. It would have been easy after 3 All Irelands to start getting notions but they never did." Ryan quickly points out he has no problem remembering his biggest disappointment as "the year Tyrone beat us in the All Ireland quarter final in 2010 when I didn't make a few decisions I should have". A testament to the ever-present competitive nature of one of the most successful mangers of all time. Even now, as back then, he puts the blame back on himself. Never his players. His respect for them, their efforts and their achievements has never waned. That respect extended both ways. Still does. Loyal to each other 'til the end. Never giving up 'til it was over. Bríd Stack is a participant in the PR/Media strand of the LGFA Female Leadership Programme. Left: Eamonn Ryan encourages players during a training and coaching session held the day before the Exhibition game on the TG4 Ladies Football All-Star Tour Treasure Island, San Francisco, California, USA. Above: Cork manager Eamonn Ryan and the team celebrate with the Brendan Martin Cup after the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Final, Cork v Dublin 2014