Westport ladies happily chasing the dream

SHE wears the sky blue and navy jersey with great pride, but Janette O’Malley has little time to dwell on anything other than football, work and studies as she prepares to lead out Westport in Sunday’s county senior final.

The talented full-back is a trainee solicitor busily balancing life on and off the pitch. Football is a huge part of her identity and getting her hands on the big silver cup at the end of this weekend’s decider would be a dream come true for the young woman who has been kicking ball for as long as she can remember.

“I hear it said all the time, but winning the final the next day would literally be a dream come true. Getting to a county final, winning the game and getting your hands on the cup and the medal is something that has been in my head for a long time now.”

Janette is a trainee solicitor in Blackhall Place. At the moment she works Monday to Thursday with Karen O’Malley & Co in Westport before attending online lectures every Friday and Saturday while also travelling to Dublin once a month for additional study.

It’s a busy existence for the Westport captain but she wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, she added an extra two years to her studies by including a Masters in Disability Law. Exams are upcoming in December and right now, her head is full of facts, figures, cases and career paths.

However, the future solicitor isn’t completely engrossed in the facts and foresight of law and justice. Instead, a large part of her life revolves around the time she spends in the blue number three jersey of her club.

She’s fortunate that her employer is very supportive.

“Karen is great and understands how busy things are in the run-up to next weekend, but it takes a bit of juggling at times to fit it all in. I suppose everyone here tonight is in the same boat,” she added, looking around the room towards the other five captains at the pre-final press-conference.

Janette is from just outside Newport in the parish of Burrishoole, but the captain and her sisters Nicola and Rebecca proudly wear the blue of Westport.

“We played football with the boys in Burrishoole when we were kids but when we reached U-14 level we wanted to keep playing there, but there was no club, so the options we had were stop playing altogether or join Westport and that’s what we did. Westport were so good to us, they welcomed us with open arms and that’s our club now. Any time I put on the Westport jersey I’m delighted to put it on and there’s great pride in our jersey. We’re like family. We’ve played together all the way up and it’s a great honour to captain the team and play beside the girls.”

On Sunday next, Janette will proudly wear the blue jersey on county final day alongside her football family and when the final whistle sounds she’ll be hoping a lifelong dream will be fulfilled.