New York look for American dream to come true at Croker
They got all the touristy nonsense out of the way.
They saw the steps which Kerry’s All-Ireland winners climbed to collect Sam on Sunday.
But the New Yorkers refused to walk up those same steps because they haven’t earned that right yet. This coming Sunday, they’ll be first up on the slate of Ladies football finals at Croke Park.
Extra time is a possibility because of their last visit to Dublin, when their replay against Wicklow in the 2011 All-Ireland junior championship final necessitated supporters back in the US to dig deep and send them back over to Ireland, only to lose the replay, fatigued by the effort expended.
Just over a half dozen veteran players survive from that ultimately unsuccessful attempt to make history, and newcomer Niamh Walsh, from the Kildorrery club in Cork, has benefited from their determination to not let that happen again.
“We’ve been unbelievably focused,” Walsh told me on Monday. “Before we beat Derry in the semi-final a month ago, we were a little overwhelmed, because we all wanted to see family and friends. I was up and down the road back home trying to see everybody. You just don’t want to let anybody down. This time we’re not going to let personal stuff get in the way. We’re going back to do one thing and that’s win an All-Ireland at Croke Park.”
Walsh is steeped in the GAA and as with many before her, New York has offered the 23-year-old Cork native chances that stem directly from her goalkeeping abilities. She misses the busy summer of games that come with being a dual player but she is driven by a new sense of identity, enjoying her work at the Emerald Isle Immigration Centre in Queens and her training in Gaelic Park in the Bronx.
And although she represented Cork at underage level and enjoyed all manner of success with her club from a young age, she will finally play at Croke Park for the first time.
“It’s a dream come true, of course,” she says adding there’s no point denying the levity of where they’ll be competing. “Every player is told that it’s just another game, the same field as anywhere, focus on the game and don’t let the occasion get to you. But it’s Croke Park. The history of the place is going to be on your mind. It’s what you aim towards when you’re young, it’s what you dream about, as a GAA player.”
As potent a feeling as the Irish New York players will be experiencing on Sunday morning, it’s as strong if not stronger for their indigenous team-mates.
Half-back Caitlin Hynes has a Galway-born grandfather whose son — her father — Kerril also represented New York in Croke Park as a minor footballer “way back when”.
A lacrosse player on scholarship at Manhattan College, Hynes has just come away from class when we’re talking by phone. Her week is packed given her obligations to the college team and this happily extended GAA season.
But although her lacrosse coach is now very supportive of this trip to Ireland just as their own season is getting into full swing, Hynes was feeling more than a little stressed about the need to pitch it right.
“I was all ready to show them YouTube clips of the games,” she laughs. “I was ready to show all this amazing footage of Croke Park. All I had to do was explain how important this was, how much it would mean to me, my family and my team-mates. It’s extra special for me to pull on that jersey. I was born here (in New York) and I have lived my whole life here. This is an incredible opportunity.”
Both players credit their management team with keeping the players driven during what is a highly unorthodox GAA season. The club finals were played six weeks ago and while their opponents Wexford will have been plugging away with their own competitive action, manager and trainer Paddy Curtis along with New York ladies football legend Rosie O’Reilly have been ensuring their panel of talented players maintains enough of an edge simply through constant hard work. “They have been brilliant,” acknowledges Walsh. “Paddy has kept us fit, he wants us ready and sharp. We all know how different it is here from at home. But we’ve worked really hard to make sure we’re ready to win that cup and make up for three years ago.”
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