Is the best yet to come for Cora Staunton?

Best yet to come?


Cora Staunton feels like she’s in the form of her life

Feature
Daniel Carey

WHEN Master of Ceremonies Liam Horan invited the audience to submit written questions at the recent ‘Success In Sport – What Does It Take?’ seminar at Breaffy House Hotel, there were a huge number of queries for Cora Staunton.
Given that the Carnacon footballer was sharing the stage with former Ireland rugby coach Eddie O’Sullivan, GAA pundit (and All-Ireland-winning club manager) Kevin McStay, Mayo GAA team doctor SeΡn Moffatt and Sligo Rovers soccer player Alan Keane, the level of interest in her views was particularly striking.
But then, the nine-time All-Star had just given some revealing insights into what has kept her at the top of her sport as she prepares for her 19th season of inter-county football.
Yes, you read that correctly – 19.
The 31-year-old was just 13 when she first broke onto the Mayo senior panel. Asked by Horan how long she thought she could keep playing at the highest level, Staunton drew laughter, and then applause, when she replied: “To be honest, I feel like I’m getting better with age”. Not missing a beat, the MC interjected: “You’ll be something when you’re 40!”
“That might sound quite big-headed, but I actually feel that I’m better now than I was when I was 21,” continued Staunton, who joked that she’s now ‘cuter’ and knows ‘all the referees’. But it was clear that this was no flippant one-liner.
Noting that her diet, sleep, gym work and strength and conditioning had all improved, she added: “I feel fitter than I did seven or eight years ago”.
One of the few Irish sportswomen recognisable by her first name alone (Sonia and Derval are others), Cora likes a challenge. She’s recently taken up rugby, scoring seven tries on her debut with Castlebar, and admitted: “If I was 20 now, I’d like to have tried to be a boxer and gone to the Olympics.”
We’ve become blasé about the phenomenal tallies she racks up in games.
This is, after all, a woman who scored 8-47 in a single weekend at the PΡidí Ó Sé Tournament in Ventry. There aren’t too many other players involved in Gaelic games who could face criticism for ‘only’ bagging 11 points in a game.
Staunton points to the pressure that comes with being ‘expected’ to rack up big tallies when it’s noted that she doesn’t look like she’s enjoying herself out on the field. But her description of the elation that follows big victories certainly struck a chord with the audience.
“Sport can be a long, lonely road at times, especially when you’re injured,” she began. “But what you get from sport, the friends that you make, really outweighs all that and you have to put it aside.
“And the feeling that you get from winning, whether it’s in Croke Park, Clogher or wherever, that feeling that you get – whether it’s for five minutes after a match or half an hour afterwards in the dressing room – there’s no way that you’ll get that feeling anywhere else. I suppose that’s what every sportsperson plays for – to get that feeling, to get that into your body … you’ll never get that feeling from anything else.”
Emphasising the need for ‘commitment’ and ‘dedication’, she acknowledged that the culture of success she had grown up in (with Mayo, Carnacon and Ballinrobe Community School) was ‘hugely important’ as she seeks more honours.
“[I] know what it’s like to be successful, and I still want that … I’ve seen what it’s like to win. I’ve been part of winning [inter-county] All-Irelands, club All-Irelands and school All-Irelands. And every time you win one, you want more … I don’t look at All-Irelands I’ve won; I look at games I’ve lost ... And I suppose that’s the main reason I’m still playing – I want to win another All-Ireland with Mayo and another All-Ireland with Carnacon. Whether that’ll happen, who knows, but I’ll keep trying.”
Half of that dream could come true next Sunday.

FACTFILE
Name: Cora Staunton
Age: 31
Club: Carnacon
Senior Honours: 9 All Stars, 4 All-Ireland club titles, 4 All-Ireland senior titles.
Did you know? Cora made her Mayo senior debut in 1995.