WHEN SHANE RONAYNE sat to punch out the calculations, the big number that emerged from his findings was 50.
That’s the number of weekly hours he dedicated to his role as manager of the Cork Ladies team for the past three years before stepping down last week. His car became his office. His classroom — where he also works as a secondary school teacher — was also his office. Free classes were often spent catching up on matters related to his workload with Cork. An understanding principal permitted Ronayne to let his two worlds collide in order to keep all his plates spinning. The go was constant.
Managing the 35 players in the squad was his core duty, of course. He instructed them as a mentor while also offering guidance in their lives away from the field. But that was just one of the tasks assigned to him. There was a multitude of jobs within the job.
“It’s one phone call after another,” he says while trying to explain the depth of the work involved in being an inter-county manager. “Talking to physios, sports psychologists and doctors. Even dealing with the county board, who have been incredibly supportive, you have to make time to deal with these things. It is full-time.”
Ronayne had been the manager of the Waterford men’s football team prior to his Cork appointment but he was well versed in the movements of ladies football in the Rebel county.
He built up a bank of knowledge while managing Mourneabbey to All-Ireland titles in 2018 and 2019. And yet, he still needed a lot of input from his backroom staff to cover the vast lands of Ladies football within the county. The players on the radar right now and the ones who will be climbing up the conveyor belt.
“When I was with Mourneabbey, it was the senior championship I was concentrating on. Your backroom team really has to be on the ground and be very knowledgeable of the local scene.”
Downtime for Ronayne was rare during his time with Cork. Even something as simple as taking a brief nap would result in no real respite at all. It would only create a backlog of work to catch up on.
“You may as well have not done it, because you’re actually busier [after].
“It does take a toll personally on you and your mental health. You’re talking 40-50 hours a week. That was total voluntary. You’re not even getting expenses. It’s rewarding but it’s very time consuming. The second one thing is over, you’re on to the next. There’s more than the football. You’re trying to help players in their own lives to be a sounding board. They do ring you about careers, and college and advice and jobs.
“I have elderly parents. My Mam suffers from Alzheimer’s and my Dad is her full-time carer. I try to be at home as much as I can.”
Coming into the final campaign of his three year-term, Ronanye suspected that 2024 might be his last year as Cork manager. He took some time after their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Galway to consider his future, before deciding to step away. Partly for himself to step off the high velocity treadmill and get back to neutral.
But also for the players. Ronayne felt it was the right time for a new mentor to assume the role with a different approach to hopefully bridge the almost 10-year gap since Cork’s last All-Ireland triumph in 2016.
After leading his county to back-to-back All-Ireland semi-finals, he’s confident Cork are closing in on that breakthrough.
Their path to the final four of this year’s championship was particularly pleasing for him although their performance against Galway wasn’t what they hoped for. They conceded two goals which Ronayne laments as “crucial,” while also creating goal opportunities which they failed to convert. But after suffering relegation from Division 1 for the first time since 2003 earlier this year, reaching the penultimate stage of the championship was a testament of the resolve in the Cork pack.
They lost some All-Ireland-winning veterans to retirement during the early stages of the season, including Mourneabbey sisters Ciara and Doireann O’Sullivan. Róisín Phelan also departed the inter-county scene. That’s a total of 18 All-Ireland medals drained from the panel while trying to navigate the league.
“You’re losing a lot of experience,” Ronayne recalls, “and it’s difficult to replace those because they had so much game time last year. We worked it out that people who scored 70% of our scores last year weren’t available to us.
“Katie Quirke got injured during the league. Eimear Kiely did her ACL as did Rachel Leahy. So, the league didn’t go well but the experience they got stood to them in the championship.
“Cork certainly aren’t that far away. The experience of this year should bring them on. There’s a couple of good young forwards coming through. I think next year’s championship will be wide open again.”
Ronayne hasn’t completely disengaged from coaching. He returned to the coaching unit of the men’s Mitchelstown football team having worked with them last year under his brother Ricky’s management. In fact, he was back in the Mitchelstown fold two days after Cork championship exit. One journey follows another. After reaching the intermediate county final last year where they were just one point short against Aghabullogue, Ronayne already has a new focus to work towards.
It’s not the 50 hours a week he was punching in before, but it’s a job that keeps him connected to his coaching craft.
“We’re flat out in the middle of championship at the moment. I don’t have the responsibility of managing the team, I can just go in and do a bit of coaching and give advice to the lads.”
