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Natasha Beegan is now a Carnacon regular

Interview
Mike Finnerty

AS Carnacon strode impressively towards their third successive All-Ireland senior club final, we wondered where we might find an interesting angle to examine their latest title crusade. And then we stumbled, literally, across Natasha Beegan in the heart of Westport last month.
It turned out that amiable Property Valuer with the well-known Tuohy-O’Toole auctioneering firm was also Carnacon’s bandana-wearing wing-forward (scorer of a goal in the Connacht final against St Brigid’s) and had a fascinating story to tell.
She may not have the high-profile of Cora Staunton or the recognisable surname of the McGings, but the 27 year old former Roscommon footballer has become an integral part of the Carnacon camp over the last two years.
Work took her to Mayo back in 2004 but football brought her to Carnacon two years ago. She grew up on a farm in Togher, four miles outside Ballinasloe, and played all her underage football with Padraig Pearses in Roscommon.
But, growing up, she was a frequent visitor to Clogher, the birthplace of her mother, Maureen Heneghan from Doonamoona. Still, little did she think that one day her name would appear in a match programme under the Carnacon banner.
“We would have been thrown in the car when we were younger and brought down to Clogher at the weekends,” she recalled last week. “My uncle, Pa Heneghan, is probably my biggest supporter and used to say that maybe, one day, I’d play for Mayo. Little did I know... But one thing led to another, I came to Mayo to work, and I thought I was as well to play for the local team.
“I thought initially I might be walking into a cocky dressing-room, given the reputation they have, and being champions. But I have to say that it was an absolute pleasure joining them. We had a good chat after my first training session and went down to the Drum Inn afterwards for a Miwadi,” she chuckles. “They’re very nice girls, very down-to-earth.”
It was not really what she had expected. Playing against Carnacon in the past, Beegan admits that she was often jealous of them. She was competitive, hated losing, and resented Carnacon’s efficiency. Now she sees things from a different perspective.
“There are so many girls training so hard and giving so much commitment. You’re talking three or four nights a week, healthy eating, no drinking... And if enough girls from the same area are prepared to make those sacrifices and are good enough to win championships, then I feel they deserve everything they get. Carnacon can only beat what’s in front of them.
“Plus, you have the likes of Jimmy Corbett, Beatrice Casey, Michael McHale and Martin Connolly in the management team, and I don’t think Carnacon ladies would be where they are today without them. There’s a talented bunch of players there but without the management team in place behind us, the team is affected.”

IT’S obvious that Natasha Beegan takes her football seriously. She is a meticulous organiser and once work, training and matches have been pencilled into her schedule, there is very little room for anything else. It’s been like this for as long as she cares to remember and there is only one reason why she does it. She plays to win.
“Ladies football is probably number one in my priorities at the moment,” she nods. “It’s five or six nights a week when you’re playing club and county football, and it’s tough on the body. I’ve been fairly unlucky with injuries too. I’ve had a few sets of fractured ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a broken collar-bone and a dislocated finger.
“But I play as hard as I can in every game. I work hard, I can create scores, and I’m more of a workhorse than a scorer. I think I’ve given it my all if I’m absolutely jaded and wrecked after a match. Then I’ll be happy with my own game.”
Next Sunday, Beegan will be hoping for more of the same as she prepares to line out in her first All-Ireland club final against Inch Rovers. She missed last year’s final after breaking two ribs when one of the family horses crushed her against a wall. It was a painful lesson about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This year her timing has been nothing but perfect. She is playing good football, enjoying her game, and has organised her life to suit her football needs. She has also arranged all her playing gear just the way she likes it. Including, of course, her lucky red bandana.
“It all started when I was 14 and had chopped my hair up short,” she laughs. “Back then it was there to hold my hair up, nowadays it’s there to do the same thing, and act as a sweat band. But, it’s habit more than anything I think. I’d be lost without it. I couldn’t find my red one before the semi-final and I had a fit looking for it.
“I’m superstitious when it comes to football,” she adds. “I always have tape on my heels in case I get blisters, I always need my bandana, and I always have to wear gloves. But, apart from that, I’m not superstitious at all,” she smiles.