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Almost five years after winning a tenth TG4 All-Ireland Senior medal with Cork, Valerie Mulcahy has found the hunger to play soccer again.
As one of the most decorated female footballers of all time, the Rockbán native thought she had left the game for the last time before the 2016 championship, her head turned toward the coaches game.
But moving to Dublin’s Ballyboden St Enda’s club has opened the door for him to go both ways. The idea of managing the club came about around this time last year, and after consulting with his longtime mentor, Eamonn Ryan, Mulcahy decided to take the plunge.
“Deborah Heavey is very involved in Ballyboden and brought the idea to me late last summer and I said I would give it a try,” said Mulcahy, who started as a coach with Gaelcoláiste Mhuire in Cork City, Cork. younger girls and the homeless of TG4.
“When training started last October I joined a bit. If there is ever a soccer ball out there, I am like a child: I want to go out and kick it. I joined the training and it was great.
“I was also humming and sputtering with the idea of playing. I wanted to focus on the leadership and coaching function because it takes a lot of time. I really didn’t want to try to do a little of everything. I wanted to have the role of coach and management under control.
“In the end, what inspired me to come back was when the girls asked me if I would play. Then, having made up my mind, during the confinement I was taking a walk in the mountains and hit my ankle, fractured myself, and broke my ligaments.
“It was a pretty bad fracture. I was sure the opportunity was gone and maybe the world was telling me something, but I’m after recovering from that injury, so I felt good.
“After all that, it was really exciting to have the opportunity to go out and play. It just reminded me how much I enjoyed soccer and the excitement you get from participating.
“Four years ago when I retired and played my last game for my local club Rockbán, which was founded by my mother, I never thought that I would actually be playing for a Dublin club, but it was great to put on the jersey. . ”
As the coach of the ten All-Ireland titles Mulcahy won with Cork, Ryan has been a colossal influence on Mulcahy’s career. She once described her talent as a player as “keeping up with Maurice Fitzgerald, Diarmuid Connolly and Mikey Sheehy,” but off the field, the legendary Cork manager has been a guide for her.
Ryan’s recent poor health means he’s on the minds of his former players and Mulcahy says he was much more than a coach to her during her playing days.
“We have had a great relationship over the years. I told him about this job at Ballyboden. I spoke to him about the possible player / coach scenario I was in. He really encouraged me to do it.
“He has always been a phone call away if any of us needed help or chat about something. It has been a great influence in my life. He’s been like a father figure to many of us, or as I used to joke with him, ‘a grandfather figure’.
“I’ve learned a lot from Eamonn Ryan about trying to create good standards and a place for players to excel. That has definitely helped me.
“He has been a great influence for me in my life and now as a coach. The influence someone can have on your athletic performance, as well as support off the court, is huge. ”
The first signs for Mulcahy, the coach, are very positive. As record ten-time winners of the Dublin Senior Championship, there is great hope and expectation that Ballyboden St Enda’s can regularly challenge the five-in-a-row champions Foxrock / Cabinteely. They face the ultimate test against the champions in the semi-finals next Wednesday and regardless of the result, Mulcahy says there is a homey feeling at the club.
“It is very nice to be involved with the women’s team and to have such a strong female presence on the management team.
“I have a great management team with me with Orla Smith and Sarah Denvir, who are former Dublin and Ballyboden players. Former Mayo player Denise McDonagh is with us too and we have the two guys, Ned Flood and Eamonn O’Reilly, who have been with the team for the past few years.
“It’s great to have such a strong female visibility on the bench, and people from the club who have played there for years and have a good sense of it. They are trying to get back to where Ballyboden was, to be a solid set, which we have helped to recreate again. ”
In addition to his inter-county glory, Mulcahy experienced All-Ireland club success with Rockbán in the Junior and Intermediate grades in 2001 and 2002. A first county title as a players manager would bring as much joy, as is suspected.
And while he was playing for the club his mother founded to give Mulcahy a chance to shine, winning in Dublin would also come naturally.
“I am very loyal to my Rockbán club and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to play with them so that I can continue playing with Cork.
“While I never saw myself playing for any other club, I was amazed at how much I enjoy being involved with Ballyboden.
“It’s nice because there are links with my own club. Susan White was a teammate and we won a junior and intermediate All-Irelands together at Rockban. Then when she went to Dublin and joined Ballyboden, she won an All-Ireland senior club.
“She is the only player who has won all three. Now I’m not saying that I have ambitions to match it, but there is that link with the club. It feels good to wear the shirt. “
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