by Daragh Ó Conchúir

It was evident from early on that Áine O’Loughlin possessed ability, but being very tall, it was the ball-winning ability that is still such a feature of her game that was utilised primarily.

In those days, athletic prowess might not have been so obvious, though good coaches and underage mentors are like the best horse trainers. They can see further down the track, don’t expect precocity from a physical frame that requires time to grow into itself, and won’t expose it to over-rigorous workloads to avoid doing damage.

As it happened, the worst injuries O’Loughlin suffered were self-inflicted.

“I’d say when I was about 14, and we were running backwards in the hall,” O’Loughlin recalls. “I went to turn, and as I was turning - I’m quite tall now, as you know - my lanky legs kind of went one over another, and I went back, and I fell backwards on my both my hands and broke my wrists.

“That was a very painful experience. Some would say it would only take myself to break two wrists at once, so I’ve gotten an awful slagging over the years. I was out for about eight weeks altogether, but the worst thing was I had just come back… it was my first training session back after I’d been out after having appendix taken out!”

The growing stopped at around 6’1’’ – she goes metric, at 183cm. It makes her a potent weapon but she has the skills to go with that. The wrists are clearly none the worse for wear.

O’Loughlin has come a long way since that career-threatening setback. Recently nominated for AIB club player of the year – she was one of five Truagh-Clonlara players to be named on the team of the year – she will lead Clare out at NCDC Abbotstown today to face Antrim in the Very League Division 1B final (2pm throw-in, live on the Camogie Association YouTube channel).

Even as a youthful squad struggled before being relegated from the top division 12 months ago, O’Loughlin proved a handful on the edge of the opposition square.

And now, though only 25 (26 in August), she is a veteran of the squad with ten years in the rear-view mirror.

“We’ve started off well after being relegated last year from Division 1A. But I think it has done us the world of good to start building the confidence again in 1B. We were struggling with those top teams, they’re just that bit ahead of us at the moment.

“It will take a bit of time to start building the squad again. And it’s great to see loads of players are getting game time now in this League, and so we are progressing, and we’re starting to build a bit of confidence in ourselves. And so going into this weekend now we will definitely back ourselves.”

She was a couple of years in the senior ranks when lining out for the minors in an All-Ireland final.

“We got beaten by Galway but I’ll never forget the Munster. We beat Tipp. We’ve had some good battles over the year in All-Ireland quarter-finals at senior level and there was a Munster final against Cork at senior that went to extra time but unfortunately Cork came out on top. That was one we left through our fingers.

“Ten years! I’m getting old. There have been some great times.”

A former secondar school teacher, O’Loughlin is now working in the National Learning Network as an instructor for older people with intellectual disabilities and differences and she loves it.

“It’s very rewarding. I’m based in Limerick, which is handy for training and that too. I’m teaching independence skills and bringing them out into the community and things like that. You can really see the improvements over the few weeks, and they get more confident in their money management and the likes of that. So that’s lovely.”

Clearly, O’Loughlin makes a difference on and off the pitch. Her infectious bubbliness masks a steely nature and one imagines it was one of John Carmody’s easier decisions to hand her the armband.

She feels that Clare have learned a lot from last year, while Truagh-Clonlara’s run has also been a welcome boosts, carrying on from Scarriff-Ogonnelloe’s provincial conquests.

“It was a brilliant year for us, but you’d like to think that a lot of other clubs and other players can look at our journey and be like, ‘Well, they’re not ten times ahead of us,’ which we’re not. Clare is very tight. That might give them confidence to build and go forward.

“We took great inspiration from Scarriff-Ogonnelloe a few years ago when they went back-to-back in Munster. So the talent is there in the county and that’s definitely a boost for everyone to drive on.”

Similarly to Antrim, Clare took a lot from reeling in a deficit to edge out Wexford by the minimum in the group phase.

“We were down five points at one stage, and a lot of the time with the inexperience off the team this year, you kind of wonder, would we be able to kick on? But it kind of came together, and we clicked, and we powered through. It was a big turning point.”

Antrim won easily when the sides met last weekend at Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg but both teams had already qualified and O’Loughlin was by no means the only player putting her feet up for the day.

“It’s kind of hard to know what to expect, because there’ll be total new teams, new players out in the field. But, yeah, no doubt, Antrim are definitely building. It’ll be a tough game, we’re both kind of on par with each other. We’ve both have had a positive League as well. So we’ll definitely get a good battle.”

Tweet

Most Read Stories