THERE WERE CHALLENGES, but none that made Áine O’Gorman want to quit sport.
“I just love football so much that nothing was really going to get in my way,” the Republic of Ireland centurion and Shamrock Rovers captan says.
The standout obstacle was when a bespoke rule that she could play in the Wicklow Schoolboys League until she was 14 was rescinded.
O’Gorman was left plotting her next steps at the age of 13, having heard little about women’s teams or other girls playing football at all. Her journey continued when Tony Poutch set up the Wicklow Ladies Soccer Academy and a group joined Stella Maris.
The 119-cap retired international fondly remembers her parents driving her to and from the Dublin club, and her interest growing when her father brought her to watch the Irish women’s team among a minuscule crowd at Richmond Park.
O’Gorman is speaking at the launch of In Her Boots, a free education and awareness-based programme for coaches and parents training girls aged nine to 16. The FAI resource, in partnership with Aviva, offers mentorship and workshops, informing volunteers about injury prevention and nutrition, It was developed in collaboration with WNT backroom staff, and aims to keep girls engaged in sport amidst concerning drop-out rates.
“We have to give young girls an opportunity,” O’Gorman says, when asked how to stop the drop. She’s hopeful of bucking the trend.
“I think the role models thing helps, that playing sport is a cool thing to do, the right thing to do. I think we need to keep promoting that, the mental and physical health benefits, and keep giving opportunities, no matter what level it is at, whether it’s elite level, for social, whatever it may be across all sports as well.
“I always go back there when I was playing with the boys up until I was 13 or 14 and my best friend was actually playing alongside me. I speak to her now and she probably regrets not continuing to play sport.
“That’s the message that I always tell people: stick with it now, it will stand by you in your life, your career, for your physical health, your mental health.
“Look, we have made strides. We need to continue to work to keep girls in sports and in football as well. Things are improving but we know there’s still a lot of work to do and I think programmes and initiatives like this will hopefully help in the long-term.”
O’Gorman believes a joint-up approach across sports, and combining expertise, could benefit keeping girls involved. “I think collaboration is key to success in a lot of areas of life, and in sport as well. If everyone can sing off the same page, the results are going to be greater.”
The 35-year-old has seen “massive” impact from Ireland playing at their first Women’s World Cup, with “the same amount of girls teams, if not more girls teams than boys teams” at her childhood club, Enniskerry.
O’Gorman, too, is enthused by the growing movement of motherhood in sport, and in Irish football alone. She has a two-year-old son, James, while her former team-mate Julie-Ann Russell recently returned to the International game after the birth of her daughter, Rosie. Louise Quinn recently announced that her partner is pregnant.
“It’s brilliant. It’s paving the way for the future, that women can play sport and have a family as well. It’s great to see, and hopefully that encourages more women to stay in the game as well… that they don’t feel that they have to take a step back from their career.”
