Mayo girls chase their dreams

THERE’S a video of the Mayo Under-14 girls football team on Twitter with over 38,000 views — and climbing.

There they are in a circle, jumping around to the beat of ‘Freed From Desire’ (‘Will Grigg’s On Fire’ anyone?) having just toppled Kildare in an epic All-Ireland semi-final.

The woman throwing shapes in the middle of it is Sinéad Stagg from Hollymount, All-Ireland winning ex-Mayo footballer and now manager of the county’s Under-14 squad.

It’s not what you expect to come across when researching a piece on an Under-14 team, that’s for sure.

But it certainly did make for a nice ice-breaker when The Mayo News sat down with Stagg in her native Ballinrobe last Friday morning.

We’re here to talk about Saturday’s All-Ireland Under-14 ‘Platinum’ final, where Mayo will seek to overcome Cork to claim the top prize in this grade for the first time since 1994.

It turns out the whole post-semi-final singsong was quite well thought-out.

“I love these girls to bits. They are like my own kids in every way and when they win something and they’re waiting to celebrate, something for myself, what I do like to do is to have a song for a team,” explains Stagg.

“Last year for the Under-14s it was ‘Sia – Unstoppable’.

“I think in years down the line when they hear that song, they have that memory that connects them and reminds them of the great days — and it can be bad days too.

“Going back to the time when I was playing myself it would have been ‘To Win Just Once’ by the Saw Doctors. I remember that. I just think it’s a nice little touch to have for the girls’ little memories sake.”

HIGH STANDARDS

EVERY minute of singing equates to thousands of hours of training, travelling and recovery.

When Mayo trials began last November, over 200 12 and 13-year-old girls showed up to try and secure the sacred Green and Red garment.

For the chosen 33, the path to All-Ireland glory has been paved with hill runs in Belleek, laps of Ballinrobe athletics track and sea swims in Enniscrone – and the odd sing-song, of course.

Last year, the Mayo Under-14s won Connacht but fell to Kerry in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

Galway beat them in this year’s provincial final, but they soon got back on their feet, seeing off Cavan, Cork and Galway (again) en route to their first U-14 All-Ireland final since 2014.

Sinéad Stagg maintains that they are where they are largely due to the ongoing work in all 34 clubs in the county.

It also helps when you’ve a backroom team with the calibre of Knockmore senior ladies’ manager Cormac Reape, former Mayo footballer Martha Ní Mháille (Tuar Mhic Éadaigh) – who was part of the last Under-14 All-Ireland winning Mayo team; goalkeeping coach, Donal Hughes (The Neale) and selectors Seamus Kelly and Liam Reape (both Knockmore).

The woman who led the charge to have Mayo development squads expanded to a maximum of 40 players would not have it any other way.

“The standard of ladies’ football has gone up and up and that’s due to the senior ladies being involved at such a high standard.

“At the end of the day, for me, with our ladies being senior, our underage right across the field should be played in the top tier of football right across the board.

“There’s no excuse for not being there.”

To stay there, Stagg maintains there’s a need to ‘maintain the level of professionalism as much as possible in all the age grades’.

“These girls love coming together, they love training hard, they love pushing each other to the next level,” she adds.

“That’s why they’re county footballers and they have the elite status. They expect that professionalism really.”

FAMILY VALUES

STRIKING that balance between professionalism and fun is a tricky one for anyone involved with an elite team – particularly when your own daughter is involved.

But that’s exactly the scenario that faces Sinéad Stagg every time she and her daughter Emma, Mayo’s captain, hit off to Mayo training.

“It’s a hard one. I’d much prefer to be on the side-lines clapping and supporting,” admits Sinéad, who watched Emma shoot 2-1 in the semi-final.

“Because I’d never want anyone to question Emma’s ability on being there, but she’s done that herself. I don’t have to vote for Emma. When it comes to even getting Emma on to the panel, I absent myself from those decisions.”

While she can’t guarantee they’ll be singing ‘Freed From Desire’ at full-time on Saturday, Sinéad assures us that her warriors will be no pushovers.

“They [Cork] are used to being in finals. They were there last year,” she notes.

“They wouldn’t have like to have gone down to Kerry, so I’m sure they’re definitely looking to put one over on us this year. I don’t think our girls are going to be too easily rolled over this year.”

FIXTURE

All-Ireland LGFA Under-14 Final

Mayo v Cork

Saturday, June 10

Nenagh at 3.30pm