It has been a struggle for Ali Twomey but she perseveres. Eleven years into a senior career with Dublin, she's seen the team hopelessly disrupted in the past few seasons and that has fed into onfield performances and that's apart from the almost constant challenge to morale of being part of women's sport even at an elite level.
Currently the team is on its fifth management in four years. Adrian O’Sullivan and Donie Fox were appointed in January and the hope is that they can provide stability and progress from last year’s disappointing championship exit against Clare.
“That’s something we have brought up as a team,” says Twomey. “We do need settled management in terms of being able to gel as a team and to grow. The last time we had management for longer than two years, we got to a semi-final, so it shows that there is potential there when there is structure in place and we do have time to grow.
“So it is really hard to grow as a team when there is chopping and changing. Not only does the management change, but the panel and the team and the set-up and the gameplans, everything changes with it. It’s like starting from scratch all over again.
“It has been really hard. I’d say there’s a core group of 10 to 12 girls who have been on the team solidly for the last three or four years and after that everything outside has changed. There’s been girls coming in and out. Different managements would see different things in different girls. So it’s been really hard to grow as a team and to bond as a team, when it’s changing all the time.”
The Lucan Sarsfields forward, who was Dublin Player of the Year in 2019, is pleased that the women’s and men’s player organisations have merged, seeing it as definite progress.
“The opportunities players have got through the GPA and WGPA has been great, in terms of furthering education and the different workshops and courses they have on. I think it is really early days for things to be picking up but it’s a really good step in the right direction.”
The world inhabited by women at the top level of Gaelic games is scarcely recognisable by comparison with their male counterparts.
“I can’t say it’s great, to be honest. Still we don’t get any expenses for going to training. We don’t always get food after training. We got gear last year but the year before I don’t think we got much.
“What you see the lads getting and what we get, there is still a huge difference. Girls are starting to put their foot down. In terms of expenses, I’ve been paying €90-€100 a month in tolls just to go training, before Covid. That’s without petrol or buying food for meal prep or all the other expenses that go with it. It is a very expensive hobby, and when you compare it to the lads, it is very disheartening.”
