Dowling can deliver on potential

READY TO GO Louise Dowling from Carnacon will be lining out with the Mayo ladies Under-16 football team in tomorrow evening’s (Wednesday’s) All-Ireland ‘B’ championship final against Laois in Ballinasloe at 7.30pm. 
Pic: Michael McLaughlin

IT was last July when Louise Dowling first appeared on the radar of The Mayo News when we visited Ballintubber GAA club’s Cúl Camp.
The young Carnacon starlet stood head and shoulders above the rest during the mixed-blitz, chalking down score after score.
Carnacon selector Michael McHale and this scribe earmarked here there and then as a future star.
“Louise Dowling was the stand-out player, scoring goals for fun,” we wrote. “Remember the name, and don’t be surprised if she lines out alongside the referee who took charge of that match, current All Star and Mayo ladies footballer, Fiona McHale.”
However, little did we know that only four months later the 14 year-old would fulfill that prediction in a Connacht ladies senior club championship semi-final for Carnacon against Kilbride.
Coincidently, Louise Dowling was only named as a last-minute replacement in the starting XV that day for McHale, but the teenager went on to play the full game.
“I only found out [I was starting] when we were being told what numbers we would be wearing,” Louise told The Mayo News. “I was talking to the people around me and all I heard was my name. I thought that I didn’t hear it right!
“I was like, ‘Are you sure?’. And then I asked again, ‘Are you serious?’ And I was told, ‘Fiona is delayed so you’re in’.
“I was panicking a bit because I was still a bit shy with the seniors, but when the match started I was fine.”
Although she was calm and assured when the whistle sounded and the game began, the same could not be said for Louise’s mother, Geraldine, sitting in the stands.
“Mam didn’t really want me to play senior,” smiled Louise. “She thought I was just going to be a sub’ and she was worried that I would get injured.
“But Granddad was like, ‘She’s playing, deal with it!’. And the next week then I was playing.”
The Davitt College, Castlebar student ended up playing a starring role as an industrious wing-forward during Carnacon’s All-Ireland winning campaign. She started the Connacht final win over Kilkerin-Clonberne, the All-Ireland semi-final victory over St Macartan’s of Tyrone, and the All-Ireland Final succcess against Cork’s Mourneabbey.
It was Carnacon’s sixth All-Ireland club title win and Louise Dowling’s first.
“It didn’t really set in for a while,” she admitted. “We didn’t get the feeling [of winning an All-Ireland title] straight away, we didn’t really catch it, it just felt like another match.
“But then a few days later we were like: ‘Oh, we actually won an All-Ireland! It was really good. I don’t think I was born for some of the other All-Irelands that Carnacon won.”

Heroes
LOUISE wasn’t the only Dowling on that victorious Carnacon side either. Her older sister, Amy, has been a mainstay in the Carnacon and Mayo ladies forward line in recent seasons.
Of course we had to ask the obvious question of Louise; ‘Who’s better?’
“I’m better,” she said with a wide grin. “She would say she’s better, but everyone says I’m better. I like to say it to her and mess with her.
“There would be a rivalry at home but it’s only messing. We like playing with each other because we know our strengths and our weaknesses and we use that to our advantage.
“She could shout at me when I don’t pass the ball, but I give it right back, I don’t take it!”
It’s fair to say that playing alongside the likes of Cora Staunton and Fiona McHale, along with the many other senior Carnacon players, has helped develop the youngster even further, and she is full of praise for them as well as her club.
“I look up to them,” she said. “I don’t know how they can do all the training and stuff and don’t get tired. “Some of the running they do is crazy, and I don’t like running so I don’t know how they do it.
“Everyone brings each other on [in the club]. There would be no singling out players… everyone gets a chance even in the younger age group… The managers like playing everyone and building player’s confidence and it improves everyone, that’s the way it is in Carnacon.
“We like getting players good, and you’re not going to get good on the bench.”

All-Ireland Final
SHY but confident by nature, Louise Dowling has a big future ahead in ladies football.
A talented soccer player too,  representing Mayo in the Gaynor Cup this year, as well as a basketballer, the teenager is an all-round sports star who plays solely for the fun of it.
“You meet a lot of friends,” she said. “It’s fun to be out and doing stuff rather than sitting at home doing nothing. I get really bored doing that.
“If I was at home I would just eat loads of food and be really lazy. It’s good to be getting out and burning off all the food, because I eat a lot!
“My friends are always giving out to me for eating so much.”
Next Wednesday, Louise will be aiming for her second All-Ireland GAA medal when she lines out for Mayo in the All-Ireland Under-16 B final against Laois.
After narrowly losing to Galway in the Connacht final, Mayo were placed in the ‘B’ competition.
The youngster has no doubt about Mayo’s ability and feels they are ready to put in a huge performance.
“I feel confident about it,” she said. “It’s such a build up and I feel like we’re going to step up to the plate and finish it.
“But I feel confident because we have a really good team and a really good bench. We work as a team really well and we always give it to the player in the best position.
“Most of us thought we should be in the ‘A’ competition, but that didn’t happen. So we just want to finish it on a high.”

Factfile
Name: Louise Dowling
From: Carnacon
Age: 14
Chosen sport: Gaelic football
Did you know? Louise made her senior debut with Carnacon at 14 years of age.