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www.ladiesgaelic.ie | SUMMER 2020 | 27 RISING STAR SÍOFRA O'SHEA Sceilge, she says her path was smoothed out by a couple of club mates and the whole Kerry squad, who welcomed her into the fold. "Anna Galvin from our club team is in the squad and she was there to support me all the way. All the girls were very nice though, they all looked out for me anyway. It was a positive experience. "Over the years I always looked up to the likes of Deirdre Corridon and Caroline Kelly in our club who are both on the Kerry senior team. Deirdre is from Derrynane too so she would have been a big influence on my football career." In her final year in secondary school, O'Shea admits she was relieved that the Leaving Cert was not extended out to October, but she would have been happy to put her post primary learning to the test. On the football field she excelled for Coláiste na Sceilge and helped them to win the Munster Senior B PPS title this year although their All-Ireland plans didn't go to script. "We actually won the Munster B Final this year against Coláiste Choilm from Ballincollig. We had a great win there. "We went on to play the All-Ireland Semi-Final on the day that the school closure was announced. We were actually on the bus on the way up to that game when the schools were all shut. We won that comfortably again, 4-13 to 1-9. "Unfortunately the other semi-final hadn't been played though, so the All-Ireland Final ended up being cancelled. That was disappointing." With all her success playing for club and county O'Shea looks destined to be a county star for years to come, but she also has a second love: basketball. She plays her club basketball with St Mary's Castleisland and has already represented – and captained – Ireland on the world stage. While she finds it a challenge to blend the training needs of both sports she has managed so far and intends on playing both games for the foreseeable future. "It is hard enough to play both games, but I suppose if you have good time management and make the most of all the time you have, it can work. "Last year I was on the Irish U18 basketball team and went to the European Championships in Macedonia. That was a great experience. I had played in them the year before in Montenegro too at U16s. "It's a big honour representing your country. This year I was on the U18 team again and we were still training away. I was trying to balance everything. "We were meant to be going to Austria this summer for the European Championships but that ended up being cancelled too. "I was on the St Mary's National League team for the last two years too. This year we ended up winning the Southern Conference and that was a really good run for us. "I know there is a bit of an overlap of the football and basketball seasons, but it has worked out so far for me. I'll try and keep both of them going for as long as I can anyway." In the coming weeks a tough drought of no sporting action will end for Síofra when she returns to competitive action with Southern Gaels. Kerry champions in 2019, she says they are keen to push on again this year, while her county ambitions are as strong as ever. "Last year we won the Senior County Championship, where we beat Rathmore. It was a really tight game but we won it by two points. It was a great win to get the county championship back. We had hoped to retain it again this year so hopefully it all goes well in the next few months. "Short term with the club we will focus on doing well in the county championship. We had a young team last year so it was great to win it last year. We all just want to try again to see if we can retain it and keep building as a team. It'd be great to go further in the Munster Championship too at some stage. "With Kerry we all want to win the Minor All-Ireland if there is one this year. As a group we lost the U14 and U16 All- Ireland finals, so I think we really want to win that All-Ireland anyway. Hopefully it'll be an exciting few months." "With all her success playing for club and county O'Shea looks destined to be a county star for years to come, but she also has a second love: basketball".