Randal Óg GAA Club establish Gaelic4Mothers&Others team to meet demand in the locality

“IT is more craic than football,” said Laura Burchill who recently spearheaded the establishment of the Gaelic4Mothers&Others in the Randal Óg GAA Club.

The club recently played its first game against fellow West Cork club Keelnameela. 

Laura said she was inspired to set the team up in the Ballinacarriga-based club after seeing how successful the initiative worked in her native Aghada. 

“I played football with Aghada up to last year. Around six years ago, Cathal McAllister the referee set up the Gaelic 4 Mothers and Others initiative in Aghada. They used to train at the same time as the senior and junior ladies footballers. I used to regularly see women who had given up playing or some who had never played before coming down to play and train. This is where I first saw the initiative and I thought it was great. I always admired the players. We would be on one side of the pitch being very serious and there were on the other side of the pitch having a laugh and the craic,” she said.

Following her move to West Cork, Laura said her idea generated real momentum in the latter part of 2021. 

“I married a Randal and moved to Dunmanway. I had been thinking of it in 2021. Randal Óg is joined with the Dohenys at underage to play for Sam Maguires. They have U21 and junior teams in their adult club. The ladies are then playing with the Dohenys. I was going to matches and there were a lot of women up on the hill supporting the lads. 

"I just thought wouldn’t it be great to have women out on the field in Ballinacarriga. I floated the idea with the club committee. They were all for it. In the latter stages of 2021, I got the go-ahead to use the facilities, and the name and set up a Randal Óg LGFA Club.” 

Following much work behind the scenes, Laura decided to get the message out there via social media that a new Gaelic4Mothers&Others initiative was going to be run by the Randal Óg club. 

An apprehensive Laura initially set a six-week timeline for the project to see if it would be a success.

The first night at training, 37 players turned up recalled Laura. 

“I got all the paperwork sorted so in June 2022, I put it up on social media that I was running a new initiative for six weeks. I picked six weeks to see how it was going to go and I wasn’t sure if the demand was there. The initiative was aimed at women over the age of 25 who are not playing competitive football. The first night we started I went down to the pitch early and set up all the cones. I was doing it myself and 37 women arrived down into the field.

“I couldn’t get over the strong numbers. There were women of all ages and they came from Ballinacarriga, Dunmanway, Drinagh, Togher, Rosscarbery, Bantry, Bandon, and a few more players from further afield. 

"I had to enlist help as I couldn’t manage 30-plus women by myself. Eleanor Crowley, Marie Collins, and Trish Murray came on board to give me a hand."

"The numbers actually grow over the following weeks. We had the bones of 45 women if not more turning up. It has gone from there,” she added.

“There was a genuine interest there and the women absolutely loved it,” said the coach. 

“We did the six weeks of training to see if the demand was there and would the whole concept work. The players loved coming to training and they loved having the craic. 

"It was a fantastic thing for women in the area to meet up with other women and have a bit of fun. Everyone is busy in their own lives and they all come from different areas in Cork."

"It is a great way to meet up in a relaxed environment, get fit and learn new skills.” 

Laura said they had a real mix of players join during the six-week period. 

Some players had played for a variety of clubs during their career, while some players were new to the game which meant they had to ‘strip’ it back to basics in terms of learning new skills. 

“We had a wide variety of ladies who joined up. We had players who had played competitively for a few clubs and we had women who had never kicked a football before in their lives. We really stripped it back to the basics in terms of learning how to solo, handpass, and kick. They all really enjoyed it.” 

The Randal Óg Gaelic4Mothers&Others team trains every Thursday evening at 7.30pm. Laura who is ineligible to play as she played competitive football last year is enjoying coaching the players. 

“I can’t play until next year as it is under a year since I finished playing competitive football. This year we started back at the start of April. We train once a week. We have our slot on the pitch every Thursday and that is set in stone. The players have come on so much since they started last year. The skill level is very strong. The club has been brilliant. Randal Og GAA Club has great facilities. There is a fantastic hall and gym. Everyone in the club has been so supportive in our journey.”