Linda Collins: 'I'm delighted to be injury free right now'
Cork camogie captain Linda Collins swims every morning and even went for a dip before the All-Ireland semi-final. Picture: Tommy Dickson
It’s been harder than usual to get a hold of Cork camogie captain Linda Collins this week. The primary school teacher has been “up the walls”, as she puts it, balancing interviews, training, and back-to-school preparations.
Her game-changing point in the last minutes of the All Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny two weeks ago has put her name in the headlines once again. It’s something the modest 24-year-old laughs about.
"My family asked if I was upset when I told them I wasn't starting in the semi-final but I actually wasn't. I'm training really well, it's just the plan that they went with," she says lightheartedly. It was her first time not being named in Cork’s starting lineup since 2018.
"When all the headlines came out after the match, I was dying with embarrassment. My family was saying: 'Linda, that's the least amount of camogie you've ever played and it's the most praise you've ever gotten.' The girls were there breaking themselves for 60 minutes and I come on and steal all the headlines."
Though the spotlight isn’t something that the Ballinspittle native basks in, she is hoping the team might steal headlines once more following their All Ireland match-up against Galway today.
"We got knocked down when we faced them in the semi-final in 2019," Collins says. "But clearly we got back up again and hopefully, it'll be a different story this time."
I'm in good shape. We learn a lot from nutritionists with the team and we get food after training and learn how to recover. I injured my hamstring last year so I'm just delighted to be injury-free right now.
I eat overnight oats every morning without fail. I make them with yoghurt and lots of seeds and berries. It fills you up for the day.
Oaties from Pure Raw Cork. Every time I go for coffee I say I won't get one but I order them every time.
I sleep quite well but if I was into a good Netflix series it would keep me up. I'll even fast-forward to find out what happens.
Going for coffee, pucking a ball off the wall, or swimming at Garretstown Beach. I love swimming in the morning, I went for a swim before the semi-final and it really set me up for the day.
Kellie Harrington would be my most recent one. Her attitude and how much she enjoys what she does is amazing. Growing up, I learned so much from Rachel Moloney and Sarah Hayes in my own club, Courcey Rovers. They'd always pull us aside and tell us what to do and what not to do. I always watched them growing up on TV and wanted to be there and now here I am.
Having grown up on a farm it would have to be freshly cut grass. You know it's summer and time for championship when you smell that.
Probably the All Ireland semi-final in 2019. We were going so well and the next thing we were losing but we realised we had so much to learn and to do and we're ready to show that.
Selfishness and large egos.
I'm a bit of a people pleaser. I always want people around me to be happy, even if it takes from my happiness.
I do, every now and again. I go to Mass and I pray for my grandparents, but it's not a priority for me.
A good start to the day or meeting friendly people. Someone just stopping you on the street to ask how you are can really put a smile on your face.
'Believe you can and you're halfway there.' I don't let my students say the word 'can't' in class. They're only allowed to ask for help rather than saying they can't do something.
Garretstown Beach. Summer, winter, if you're looking for me that's where I'll be.
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