Ladies Gaelic Football

FEATURE 50 | WINTER 2019 | www.ladiesgaelic.ie SCHOOL FOCUS COLÁISTE BHAILE CHLÁIR O NE of the central planks of the impressive and ongoing 20x20 campaign is the importance of role models. Galway star Sarah Conneally understands this, as Roscommon's Mary Grehan was her coach when Sarah was an aspiring young player with Dunmore Community School. Sarah, a member of the Galway team that competed in the 2019 Lidl National League Division 1 and TG4 All-Ireland Senior Finals, listened and learned, picking up tips that would stand her in good stead as her career progressed. "I'm very aware of the influence that school football can have," Sarah says. "I have some amazing memories." Fast forward to the present day and Sarah is an English and Geography teacher at Coláiste Bhaile Chláir in Claregalway, Co. Galway. The school will contest a Senior A Connacht Final against Westport after Christmas, and they're in a good position in the Junior A competition too. Following a year at Presentation, Tuam, Sarah's second-year teaching placement brought her to CBC. She's grateful to Alan Mongey, the principal at CBC, for the opportunity, one she grasped with both hands. The school itself opened in 2013 and Sarah's been there for over three years now, and overseeing the coaching of players in the school alongside Galway team-mate Fabienne Cooney, Clare's Ellie O'Gorman and Karen Kerrigan. Another Galway player, Lisa Gannon, and Sarah Nic Dhonnchadha are currently on maternity leave, but both have been involved too in recent times. It's a high-quality set-up and it should have come as no surprise when CBC captured an historic All-Ireland double in 2018, winning both the Lidl All-Ireland Senior C and Junior B Championships. In 2019, CBC were back dining at the top table again, but they lost out in both the Senior B and Junior A Finals. Local clubs Claregalway, Annaghdown and Corofin feed players into the school, and competition for places on the various panels is extremely high. The school started off initially with just a junior team, and the first notable piece of national success arrived in 2017, when CBC won the All-Ireland Junior C title against Donegal outfit St Columba's, Glenties. This year, with numbers so high, there were 80 girls on an U14 email list. That set alarm bells ringing, with Sarah and her colleagues worried that girls weren't getting enough games. There was the spin-off concern that girls on the fringes might decide not to commit to football, if they didn't feel they'd get the chance to shine. So, the school decided to enter U14 A and B teams in competition this year, along with teams competing at Junior A, Senior B and Senior A. "From a management point of view, being able to see players was brilliant in match situation," says Sarah. Galway's Sarah Conneally Reflects on Schools Football in Coláiste Bhaile Chláir. By Jackie Cahill 1

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