Marie Crowe: I’m not a fan of taking shortcuts

Marie Crowe at Aviva Ireland’s new community garden which officially opened to the public this week.

Sports presenter Marie Crowe says she is envious of young women who have a wealth of female sportstars to look up to.

“Growing up, there were so few female athletes on the telly,” the Game On presenter says. “I’m so jealous of the generations now that can go watch Katie McCabe in Champions League action and turn on camogie quarterfinals and semifinals - it’s amazing. When I was growing up, the only female sports I got to see were All-Ireland final days.”

The Clare woman, who is a mother to three sports-mad boys, Timmy, 10, Billy, eight, and Davie, six, says growing up, athletics was the only televised sport where she got to see women shine on the field.

“My dad was an international runner and he had Eurosport when nobody had the channel,” she laughs.

“I was always watching Florence Griffith Joyner, Merlene Ottey, Gail Devers. Then Sonya Sullivan came along, and she became the natural hero for me.”

• Marie Crowe presents RTÉ 2FM’s Game On. She recently launched Aviva’s Home Turf, a community garden to support and sustain wildlife at the home of Irish rugby and soccer, which will be open to the public 365 days a year.

How do you keep fit?

I am a member of a gym called Platinum Performance. I try to go three mornings a week for work before the kids get up. I have to book in the night before and you can’t cancel, which is great because you have to go or you lose your credit. For me, the only thing that works with having kids and working the evenings is to go in the morning. I just have to get up and go and do it. I don’t always want to, but when I’m there, I’m really glad that I did it.

I coach my boys’ soccer and GAA on Saturday and Sunday mornings, which also keeps me fit. I’m not doing a huge amount, but I am running after them.

What are your healthiest eating habits?

Preparing and planning is probably the best habit I have. I work in the evenings, which isn’t the norm for people. So, I have to plan and prepare a little bit more. It’s 11.30am now and I’ve already made the dinner.

What are your guiltiest pleasures?

I love ice cream and jellies. I am not strict, if I want to have a bag of jellies, I’ll have them.

What would keep you awake at night?

Being afraid I am not going to get up on time. I find it hard to sleep and stay asleep if I know I have to get up early. I tend to wake up on the hour from four o’clock, which is really annoying.

Marie Crowe and her kids, Timmy, Billy and Davie, alongside Brian O’Neill, Head of Communications, Brand, Sponsorship & Corporate Social Responsibility at Aviva, at Aviva Ireland’s new community garden which officially opened to the public this week.

How do you relax?

Watching TV. I love the big Champions League nights. I usually come in from work and the boys come in from training around the same time. We just chill out, have a bit of food, watch the match, catching up on the day. That bit of family time and TV time [help me] unwind.

What is your favourite smell?

It’s always freshly cut grass. I am one of seven kids, and we were outside all the time when we were young, out in the country in Sixmilebridge Mart. We spent a lot of time out on the GAA pitch, training and matching and just hanging around. Freshly cut grass reminds me of summer and being off school and just playing.

When was the last time you cried?

Oh, I am the worst crier. When I am interviewing people, and they tell me a sad story, I start crying. I have to steel myself not to cry on air. The most recent episode was when one of my kids was reluctant to go back to school. He was crying at the school gate and we had to go to the secretary’s office. It was embarrassing; I was crying because he was crying. Since I’ve had kids, I am just an emotional wreck.

The best health advice you’ve ever been given?

My mum and dad always said, ‘practice what you preach’. I think that’s really important in this stage of my life because there’s no point in me telling the boys you have to eat healthily or exercise and then sitting down and doing nothing myself.

What traits do you least like in others?

I’m not a big fan of laziness or taking shortcuts. Nothing beats hard work.

What traits do you least like about yourself?

I’m pretty nosy, probably a good trait for a journalist.

Has climate change impacted how you live your life?

My children have been really good at educating me about climate change so as a family, we are good at cycling places and making sure that we conserve energy when we can.

Where is your favourite place in the world?

The side of a pitch, any pitch. I love nothing more than going to match with the family in tow. It was the way I was raised, and it’s the way I raise my children.