Five minutes with: Monaghan’s Sharon Courtney

Name: | Sharon Courtney |
Age: | 28
Occupation: | Lecturer

Teams played for:

Donaghmoyne and Monaghan ladies

If you were throwing a party and you could invite anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would you ask around?

Football friends (two thumbs up!!) plus the overseas contingent (Kevin Burns and co.), and Paul O’Connell and Roy Keane because they were top class for Ireland. Oh and Whitney Houston for a song, if Tommy the Bog is unavailable.

Where do you like to go out to celebrate after a big victory?

Colemans of Laragh! Colemans is a house with a pub in its sitting room. It is in the middle of nowhere. It was jammed after the All-Ireland and that was even before the team arrived.

If you weren’t playing GAA what would you be at?

I would love to be a professional athlete of some description.

What’s the worst pitch you’ve ever played on?

We played Carnacon one year over in Mayo and the field was just like a normal field for cows and the dressing room was like a shed.

Which character in any film are you most like?

Forrest Gump – never stop running!

Any odd items in your kit bag?

I always have tracksuit bottoms for when I am on the bench…they don’t get much use!!!!

What’s your preferred brand of gear?

I like O’Neills for the football gear and Nike and Adidas for the casual gear. I am not fussy with the boots, the last pair I got were €13.99!

Who’s the biggest joker in the teams you play for?

Annmarie Burns with Donaghmoyne. She would say anything and for some reason always gets away with it.
Ciara McAnespie on the county team is very funny, but she can’t help it.

Which team mate has the best looking other half?

There aren’t too many other halves! Cora says we are ‘free and single and ready to mingle’!!!!

Who is the worst trainer?

Annmarie Burns. She trained us for most of the year (which was horrendous) but when Noel Marron came back to train us her Achilles suddenly started to play up.

Who spends most time in front of the mirror in the dressing room?

Joanne Geoghegan. Her gear bag is like a chemist with all the lotions and potions.

Who’s the best/worst person to share a room with on away trips?

I wouldn’t know. I am always with one of the sisters, usually Cora.

Who’s the best/worst person to sit beside on the team bus?

Same as above, I am usually beside Cora. But it is handy to have Niamh Lynch close by with the snack box!

Who has the best and who has the worst diet on the team, and what does it include?

I would have to say mine is the best (I studied sport & exercise nutrition) and the worst is Niamh Lynch’s, you could find anything in that snack box.

Toughest opponent you have faced?

I love marking Cora too!

Best or worst quote you’ve heard, either from a manager, player, opponent?

Francie Coleman, club manager, always says ‘stick to them like shite to a blanket’; it has worked alright for him.

Best manager you’ve ever played under?

Francie Coleman. He has being a constant in Donaghmoyne, since its formation in 1991, and is a major part of why we are so successful.

Best ever performance?

I really enjoyed marking Cora Staunton in the 2012 club final, she still did get one point from play though.

One to forget?

Ulster club final 2014 – a bad day all round.

When you were playing in the back garden, who did you pretend to be?

Seamus Moynihan of Kerry.

If there was a transfer market who’d be in and who’d be out of the team?

I am happy enough with the team we have but I might get rid of the Corrinshigo gang, Annmarie Burns and Hazel Kingham. Annmarie trains us too hard and the glory of kicking two crucial points in the All-Ireland has gone to Hazel’s head. She is partying the bit out, plus we couldn’t have the distraction of the paparazzi at training!