Female football focus on the Royal County-with a Dublin influence
The Belles against the Shels. A few weeks ago the girls from the Parvkvilla Belles took on their Shelbourne counterparts from Dublin in a u-14 soccer friendly at the MDL and the encounter revealed a lot about the state of the beautiful game in Meath.
One feature of the encounter was that both teams contained players from the Royal County. Parkvilla, as might be expected, was made up of young players from the local area, but significantly the Shelbourne team also included a contingent from Meath.
Among those who turned out for the Shels were Aoife Waldron and Emily Flynn, both from the Slane area, Sophie Murray (Ashbourne), Jodi McQuillan (Navan) and Shannon Guildea (Donore).
The Dublin side won 4-1 (with Sarah Power finding the net for Parkvilla) but the result hardly mattered.
What mattered was that both sets of players got a workout ahead of a return to competitive action - and added to their bank of experience.
AMANDA McQUILLAN
Shelbourne have strong connections to Meath in other ways. Their first team goalkeeper for the all-conquering ladies team in the Women’s National League is Amanda McQuillan from Johnstown.
Amanda has forged a reputation as a highly-talented young goalkeeper who may yet end up playing in the professional ranks in England or the US - she was a nominee for the Young Sportsperson of the Year at the Meath Sports Awards two weeks ago.
She has turned out for the Republic of Ireland at under-age levels and towards the end of 2016 the 18-year-old also made her debut for the Irish senior team in a friendly.
MARK LEAVY
The manager of the Shelbourne senior side is Mark Leavy who lives in Robinstown. In 2016 Leavy led Shels to a domestic treble - the League title, the FAI Cup and the League Cup.
A large contingent of that Shelbourne squad is made up of players from the north-east including two from Meath - McQuillan and Chloe McNamee. Others such as internationals Lynn Craven, Sophie Watters and Leanne Kiernan are from the Cavan and Louth areas.
Leavy managed Trim Celtic under-age girls teams before moving to Shelbourne and he brought many of the players he worked with at Tully Park with him to the Dublin club.
Now Shels are one of the top sides in the country.
“It’s very unusal to get as many good players from the one area such to go on and play international football. It’s good to see players who were the nucleus of a NECSL team going on to play at international level,” commented Leavy.
But of course the life-blood of any team is the strength of their under-age setup and Shelbourne - as well as Meath clubs like Parkvilla - are putting a big emphasis on bringing players through the ranks.
JOEL PATINO
The Shelbourne u-14s are managed by Karen O’Connell while the assistant is Joel Patino, a Sligo Rovers fan who lives in Navan.
The team has established a truly admirable record losing just once in four years since they joined up to play at u-10 level.
Patino talks of how young players are interested in turning out for Shelbourne partly because the club is so well known in the ladies game - and in Irish soccer generally.
It is also a club, he points out, that gives young players an opportunity to develop their talent and move up to another level.
The players want to be part the Shelbourne brand and it’s not far up the motorway for players from Meath in terms of travelling for games and training,” he said.
“Shelbourne have been winning things for years and are the leaders in the sport.”
“Ladies and girls soccer is fast becoming a very popular sport, it’s extremely popular in Dublin, more and more girls are joining clubs like Shelbourne. We have our scouts that are looking to sign players all the time,” he added.
PARKVILLA
Parkvilla u-14s are managed by Alan Kavanagh and he is assisted by Annette and Justin Corbally.
The play locally against teams from Trim Celtic, Balrath FC, Walshestown, Cavan Shamrocks, Skryne/Tara, Johnstown, Park Celtic/Summerhill and Albion Rovers. Amy Corbally also helps out when it comes to coaching.
The Navan side are happy to play in the NECSL and Annette Corbally says there is “a great interest in girls soccer” in Navan and beyond, a reality, she adds, that is reflected in the increasing number of girls who want to play the game.
The situation is also helped, she adds, by the FAI’s ‘Soccer Sisters Programme’ which aims to encourage girls to play the game, but she points out that the powers-that-be must be careful not to push the girls game down the list of priorities.
“There’s a very bright future for girls soccer, there’s certainly a great interest in the game amoung young girls, but it does have to be promoted more,” added Annette Corbally.
“The FAI are trying to get new programmes going but I feel there is a tendency for the girls game to be pushed to the side.
“If the boys have a cup game the girls game is called off, but there is a bright future overall for the game in Meath.
“We formed a whole new u-12 girls team, the interest is there it just needs to be nutured a bit more.”
Parkvilla Belles u-14 squad
Ciara Blake, Aoife O’Malley, Abigail Byrne, Aisling Kavanagh, Naoise Collins, Shannon Conneely, Eva McConnell, Emma Power, Sarah Power, Amber Cosgrove, Leah Corbally, Ellie Love, Alanna Rogers, Maria Power.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Apart from main photo, other photos include Karen O'Connell and Joel Patino, the McQuillan family from Johnstown and the two panels from the games. Photos by John Quirke / www.quirke.ie