Caoimhe Harvey Confirmed As Clare LGFA Captain For 2021 Campaign

Caoimhe Harvey has been announced as the new captain of the Clare Ladies footballers for the 2021 campaign.

Harvey, who was player of the match in Clare’s All Ireland Minor B final victory of 2017, succeeds Ellie O’Gorman in the role, with the Kilmihil woman taking up the vice-captaincy for the coming year.

The 22-year-old from West Clare Gaels has been one of the key figures in the Clare side since making her adult debut with 2021 being her fifth year at this level. She already has plenty captaincy experience, as she helped her club to reach last year’s Clare ladies senior final.

“I was delighted when Evan (Talty) and the management team announced that I was to be captain this year. It is a privilege and something to be proud of and I certainly was not expecting it. I know I have plenty experience to gain yet but it is great to be given it and hopefully we can bring a bit of silverware back” she said.

Since coming through to the intermediate panel, Harvey has played under two captains in Laurie Ryan and Ellie O’Gorman. She is hopeful that she has gleaned some pointers from them as to what she will look to bring to the role.

“This will be my fifth year at adult level, and I went straight from U-16 to the intermediate squad. I know I have plenty of experience to gain still because I am still young but it is great to be given this honour and hopefully we can bring a bit of silverware back this year. It was great playing with the likes of Laurie and Ellie as captain over the last few years and I would hope that I picked up different things from them that I can bring to the role” she noted.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 began just over a year ago, her working schedule has remained steady as she is employed by AIB in Ennis. The novelty of being able to go outside her 5km restriction to go to work from her home in Querrin is something she laughs at as being a strange dynamic but still feels that having a structure to work on day to day is important at the moment.

“It is a dream job in the sense that it is a 9-5 Monday to Friday so you can plan your week. The fact that I am still working means that I get up and out every day. It is an hour of a drive each way but it helps in passing the day too. It can be a very long day if you are just sitting at home and while we are blessed with the scenery we have here in West Clare, it would be great if we were able to get back on the road soon all the same. It can be lonesome at times just doing the individual running sessions and gym work. It can get to the stage where you are nearly half sick of it and it is hard to keep motivated but the thing is that when we get the go ahead we have to be ready so there is no option but to keep it going” she said.

Clare’s 2020 season did not come to an end until the last week in November with that semi-final loss to Meath, and Harvey outlined that having some time where football was not on the diary was a welcome development after what had been a long year.

“We played up until nearly December last year and I think everyone just needed that break to mentally shut off as much as anything else. Last year’s season was a long one because we actually started planning for it in October of 2019. Those six or eight weeks until the end of January this year were nearly needed so that we could just reset and get that love of football back again. It is hard with all these Zoom sessions and while it is a nice way of getting to see people, you would be nearly sick of them all the same at this stage. We did have a lovely bonding night with a quiz last week, and it was nice to have it in a casual session rather than having to be training. It was good to see who else is on the extended panel too because we haven’t had the opportunity to meet up together so it was a great bonding exercise in that sense” she said.

With uncertainty continuing to surround the date on which intercounty action can resume, Harvey feels it is important that there should be no crossover between club and county once games get back underway.

“Last year was my first year training with West Clare Gaels because you are always pulled to county and it is not fair on the girls. There are five of us on the county team and that can sap motivation from the squad then when we are all missing. Hopefully that will be sorted and they will run it unbroken. Last year we made the county final which we had not done in five years. All we want to do is be constantly competing and when the girls are pulled all over the place you don’t have the time. It was nice to be able to go to the water for recovery sessions on the evening after games which is something you just don’t have time to do if you tied up with county commitments. You miss out on that bonding time with the girls. Hopefully they will think of all those things when they are putting plans in place” she concluded.