This much I know: Noelle Healy, footballer

I have always been competitive. When it comes to sports, I always want to win.

Ever since I was a really young child, I have loved sports. My sister was a very good runner. Sonia O’Sullivan was the big star when I was growing up and my first love was also athletics, then basketball. Then, there was a lovely green in front of my parent’s house in Castleknock in Dublin where we used to play soccer with all the boys. GAA was the only sport I knew locally that had a girl’s team, which is why I opted for Gaelic.

I think I was a shy child. Being involved in sports was good for me on so many levels. It meant I had no choice but to become more outgoing.

The trait I most admire in other people is honesty. I dislike people who say one thing to your face and another behind your back.

I had this dream of being an animal conservationist. I always liked science and actually went on to study medicine at UCD.

One of my uncles and some of my cousins are doctors. I wasn’t sure if I’d go into surgery or medicine. In the end I chose anesthetics. I’m working in Beaumont Hospital now, on the anesthetics training team. I love it. I have another five years of training ahead of me before I will be fully qualified.

I don’t believe in any type of after life. This is it.

If I could be someone else for a day, I’d experience what it’s like to be a professional sports person like Serena Williams.

I’m disciplined and good with time management. I have had to learn to be because my work and sports lives are both so demanding.

I’m more of a lark than an owl. I get up around 6am every day so I try to get to bed early. I finish work by 5pm, go home and eat, study if I have exams coming up, and go training at 7pm for an hour and a half.

Our new manager has us focusing on skills- based training, as well as conditioning. I also go to a gym and do yoga.I really like cooking and believe in the ‘80/20’ rule — eating healthily 80% of the time.

I’m a pretty level-headed person. I don’t veer from one emotion to another. You need to be able to remain focused for the kind of work I do.

My biggest fault is I am quite an anxious person although I may not seem outwardly stressed. Worrying is a waste of time but it can be hard to ‘rewire’ yourself.

Learning about time management has helped massively. By making a plan, you can see yourself progressing step by step.

The best advice I have ever received is that you can choose your attitude. That has stood me in good stead when I feel anxious.

I was taught that the easiest way to break a bad mood is to spend time in the company of like-minded people who feel the same way about things as yourself. Whenever I have any time off, I spend it with my lovely group of friends — going for a meal, going to the cinema.

One thing that I didn’t learn in school and wish I’d been taught is how to deal with stress.

Kids should be taught lifestyle management skills and about the importance of practical things such as good sleep patterns and communication skills.

If I could change one thing in Ireland it would be the status of women in sports. It has changed massively for the good in the last three years, but that is no accident.

Even in senior football, up until recently we regularly had to move pitches every week, as none was permanently available to us, until we got a proper base in DCU thanks to sponsorship. Women’s sports should get as much media coverage as men’s.

If I won the Lotto tomorrow I’d still do exactly what I am doing now. I wouldn’t change a thing — except I’d buy a house.

So far life has taught me not to take everything too seriously and that circumstances and situations can change very quickly.

Noelle Healy, Dublin Ladies Football captain, is supporting Headway’s Concussion Aware campaign.

Headway is a not-for-profit organisation, which provides support and services to individuals affected by acquired brain injury.