Clare ladies footballer Laurie Ryan has signed on for a second season with Women’s National League (WNL) side Athlone Town, writes Ivan Smyth.
Ryan states that she is hopeful of helping the club move up the table after a seventh place finish last season.
“I’m really excited to get back playing. We finished the season really positively so I’m ready to go back playing. We want to try improve more and make progress this season. We finished seventh last season which was a bit disappointing as we wanted sixth. We have a young squad so there is a lot to build on.”
The 28-year-old told The Clare Champion that she will be returning to the Clare ladies footballers for 2022. She rejoined the panel three weeks before Clare’s agonising loss to Westmeath in the Championship quarter final last year as she juggled work commitments and her soccer career.
“I have been in contact with Evan (Talty). I’ve been doing some testing in the gym and he’s on board with it. I chatted with both managers a few weeks ago so they both know and are on board with me playing the two sports.”
She lives in Athlone and lectures at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) where she teaches science subjects in the sports department. Ryan knows that free time will be in short supply once the soccer and ladies football seasons get back up and running. However, she feels well equipped to deal with the challenges of balancing work commitments and her sporting career.
“When I was in college sometimes I could twist it and put my studies on the back burner slightly. In my job I need to know what I’m teaching the next day so I have to be prepared because if I don’t know what I’m doing then the students won’t know either. It is about managing my time and dealing with everything. People think I’m mad doing both sports but it’s all about being organised.”
Ryan admits it was difficult to step away from the inter county scene last year and for the start of 2021. The former captain states it was not a decision taken lightly as she battled a concussion suffered in 2019 while also juggling her PhD studies and later her job.
“It was a massive decision at the time. I had played in 2019 and was captain but I got concussed while playing. I told myself that I would step away. COVID struck then and I had time to think about it. I had got a new job and I needed to focus on that. It was hard to walk away but I’m hungrier than ever now.”
She played an instrumental role in helping the Banner Ladies pick up another county title this year. Ryan set up all three of her side’s goals in the final against Kilmihil and she believes there were plenty of positives to take from their Munster Championship defeat to Mourneabbey.
“I was hungry to go back playing club football. It was one of our best years as we had to deal with a lot of injuries. We gave a god account of ourselves against Mourneabbey and there were lots of positives to take from the game. We have a young team so we will learn from this year.”
The former University of Limerick (UL) student admits she was tentative in the early stages of her soccer career to head the ball after her concussion battle.
“I was nervous of everything initially. I wouldn’t header the ball when playing soccer for the first few weeks. Everything you do has a little bit of risk attached to it. I feel great now and I’m showing no side effects. The minute you are in a game scenario it is either win or get out of the way. I take care of myself and make sure I’m not putting myself in danger if I do take a bang.”