Let the battle commence to be crowned Queens of Leitrim

The battle to be crowned Queens of Leitrim football may never be harder than it is this year with a series of permutations that will leave progress in the Gotham Dry Wall Leitrim Club Championships very much alive until the final round of games.

That’s the view of Leitrim LGFA chairperson Kathy Butler who was speaking at the 2023 launch of the championships last Thursday in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada as Kathy believes Ladies football in the county stands the test with the best in the country.

“If you look at Glencar Manor reaching Connacht Finals, Kiltubrid losing the Connacht Intermediate by a point and St Mary’s losing after extra time to the eventual All-Ireland champions, we were one step from glory across the board so it bodes well for the standard in Leitrim that we can hold our own at national level when we go onto the bigger standard.

Captain Karen Connolly taking nothing for granted as Glencar Manorhamilton go in search of another title

“It has been a very interesting and enjoyable league with lots of action, the standard has got so high with amazing talent to be seen across the board. It has been a super league and we’re excited for the championship.”

A slightly different format in the Senior Championship means that there could be combined finals at A & B level depending on results or semi-finals to decide who meets at what grade but that adds to the excitement according to Kathy: “The number of permutations that exist for the championship will leave it competitive right up to the end. It is likely the B Final will be played before the A Final.”

With the growth in the women’s game, Kathy is encouraged to see more fans attending games: “There is a lot of scope for improvement but even seeing the crowd that were here for the Division 1 Final and on Sunday for the Division 2 Final was super. There was great support for the clubs involved, we’ve seen that replicated across the League games.

“The support for the county adult team has been really good this year, we got a home championship game against Kildare in Pairc Sean which opened people’s eyes a wee bit and sparked some interest. That was really positive.”

Yet challenges remain and access to facilities for games and training remains a big challenge but Kathy is hopeful of progress: “The biggest challenge for us is getting access to facilities, which is a huge challenge. It is just the nature of it, there are so many teams competing for every square inch of ground across the county.

“Clubs are fielding multiple teams and the ground in Leitrim struggles to hold up to that level of winter training under lights, we don’t have so many places with lights and those are the fundamental challenges that exist for us currently. The impending development of the SRC is very positive for the county and the plans for a high performance gym will bridge those gaps in terms of the physical pieces. 

“Beyond that, we need constant support from clubs and financial support and I guess the cost of everything has grown exponentially in recent times and we’re conscious that we’re picking on the same small group of sponsors. Financial support and physical support from clubs is vital and ultimately we need buy-in from every player at every level to make themselves available.”

Aiming at the wrong target

THE LAST POINT

That naturally leads into conversation about the GPA protests over the lack of travelling expenses for inter-county players, a campaign Kathy full supports: “The girls are absolutely right to look for that and the protests were really valuable in terms of the visibility of ladies football. 

“That’s why we’re all involved to promote ladies sport. It is a huge challenge and this year, the LGFA changed the funding structure, it has made it more challenging for us as a county board to manage it and divy out the funds and it is certainly going to be a challenge to make ends meet for the rest of the year.

“That is the reality and the reality every year but there will need to be an increased funding coming from Sport Ireland and Croke Park and potentially the Integration Talks will make a difference there.”