Colleen Barrett Interview

  • Sep 26,2015

Colleen Barrett: “as I get older, I really appreciate what it is have these big days”

 

In the build up to an All- Ireland final, as the evenings begin to draw in and summer sport reaches its climax, players like long-time Dublin star Colleen Barrett have a simple philosophy on big game build up: working hard is better than not having to. “Everyone still wants to be training come September,” she tells us. “There are only two teams still doing it, and it means a lot to be one of them.”

 

Having spent much of the year on the side line with a long-term lower back injury, though, for the St Brigid’s club infant school teacher, it’s been a tough year. The road back to fitness, back to the Dublin starting 15 and - ultimately - back to Croke Park has been harder for Barrett than for most.

 

“When I had to take time out with lower back pain,” Barrett tells us, “I wasn’t sure I was going to play this year. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to play much longer at all.”

 

Having first appeared in the Dublin senior side as a teenager in 2006, Barrett returned to the fold this season in time for the Leinster Senior Final back in June, which saw Dublin see off Westmeath by a score of 2-12 to 0-11, taking their fourth Leinster title in succession.

 

She was part of the side that won Dublin’s only All Ireland Ladies Senior Championship back in 2010. The girls in blue saw off Tyrone by a score of 3-16 to 0-10, in the only break to Cork dominance of the competition in a decade. Barrett also endured defeats to the Leesiders in 2009 and 2014.

 

Thinking back to 2010, she says: “I don’t know if it mattered quite as much at the time. It matters a lot, of course, but as you get older, you realise not everyone gets to win. At the time I probably thought I might have another one at this stage. As I get older, I really start to appreciate big days like this, though. Going to Croke Park and playing in the final is a really big deal. There are only two teams still training in September. I’m back at work, and I’m still training, having had the summer off. That counts for a lot.”

 

While Barrett is back in front of a class of 31 students on a daily basis - and identifies the start of the year as one of the highest pressure times for a teacher - the quieter summer period when schools are closed really plays into her hands when it comes to playing football. She’ll have been back in school about a month by the time the final rolls around, but the major games prior to the final have all fallen happily between terms.

 

“The summer off from teaching really suits football,” she explains. “It’s nice to use the time to, for example, plan your meals really well and make sure you’re in peak condition for training and preparation. Teaching 31 infants is not ideal for rest and recovery, but the school understands that I have a big game coming up and they’re very accommodating. I get a lot of support.”

 

“A final that was a little earlier in the summer would obviously have been the ideal. But people at my work are understanding. As long as I get all my work done, I can leave a little earlier on training days.”

 

As for the journey so far, Barrett was surprised by the ease with which Dublin pushed aside Armagh in the All Ireland semi- final, but highlights the quarter final against Monaghan and the Leinster final against Westmeath as tough moments on the way to Croke Park.

 

“Westmeath and Monaghan gave us a really hard time,” she says. “It’s been an interesting year, as I don’t think we’ve been favourites at any points since the Leinster Final. We certainly won’t be favourites in many people’s eyes for the final, especially when you consider Cork’s record. But it doesn’t worry us.”

 

“Croke Park is wide and long, but so are the pitches that we train on regularly at DCU, so that should help us. So will our experience last year. It is a difficult experience in a way, because we play a lot of our games during the season in front of a small number of people, and then we get to Croke Park and we might be playing in front of 25,000 or so. The noise makes a difference. I’ve heard about some teams training in noisy environments to prepare, but it’s all about knowing each other’s game, really.”

 

While this Dublin side has really come together over the past couple of years, with a host of young players drafted into the side by manager Gregory McGonigle, the experienced heads are key. Players like Barrett, whose experience dates back to a panel with an entirely different look - and includes three All Ireland finals - who might prove the cool heads on the big day.

 

Given Barrett’s recent injuries and the increasingly youthful look of the emerging Dublin side, it’s a testament to her ability and dedication that she still looks an automatic pick in the back line. “There are maybe seven or eight players left in the squad from the final win in 2010,” she explains. “You can’t hold back if you want to be part of this.”

 

“Sometimes it can be hard to keep up. But we’re still here in September. I’m still here in September. That means everything.”