Her Moves: Sarah Hegarty's Story

Sarah Hegarty is a 16-year-old  transition year student from Grange Post Primary School in the Northwest of Sligo. Sarah produced a children's book called 'Girls In The Game' which is about leading female intercounty footballers across the country. It includes one player from each county and a story about their career journey, successes, attitude and much much more. We sat down with Sarah to ask a few questions about her story!

‍

Tell us about ‘Girls in the Game’ and how the concept came to life?

Girls In The Game is a children’s book about the leading female intercounty footballers across the country. It includes one player from each county and a story about their career journey, successes, attitude and much much more. It is offering young girls female role models in Gaelic games who they can look up to and aspire to be. I wanted to create a resource for young girls to show them all the positives sport can bring too. All the players in this book talk about how much Gaelic has benefited them and the opportunities they have gained through Gaelic. I think its important that young girls see not only is sport good for physical and mental wellbeing, but it also has so many other benefits and opportunities. E.g., educational scholarships and chances to travel abroad.

‍

Why are you so passionate about this piece of work?

I have two younger brothers and when we were growing up they had all kinds of books and posters about the players they love but I never really realized there was none about girls. I knew all the top male players in Gaelic like Michael Murphy, Philly Mc Mahon,and Eóin Mc Hugh from my own club. However, I couldn’t name any female Gaelic players. At the start of the year our teacher was explaining to us how to come up with an idea. Look on the market and try to spot a gap for a certain product, a product that could be high in demand or a product you think you could improve. At first, I had no idea what I was going to do. After thinking for a long time, I decided to look at my hobbies and interests and see if I could come up with something. I started to think about Gaelic and was there a gap in the market for anything there and I realized then that there was a massive gap in the market for female role models in Gaelic. I decided to do my own research into girls in sport and some of the stats I found were very worrying:

·        Only 5% of print media is given to women in sport  

·        Only 6% of online sports stories are about women

·        65% of girls can't name a female role model in their sport but can name a male one

After reading these statistics I decided I was going to create a product to do with female role models in Gaelic for young girls.

‍

Who is your female sporting role model?

Even though I don’t play camogie I’ve always looked up to Anna Geary. On her social media she is always posting different ways to be active and how good exercise is for you. She is also has done a lot for girls in sport, for example her show on RTE ‘Why Girls Quit Sport’.

‍

How did your school and peers support you with the ‘Girls in the Game’ project?

My school has given me and enormous amount of support with my project. They have provided me with help and support along the way. My business teacher Mr. Lynam had also given me a lot of help as well with my project.

‍

What does your school do to encourage an active environment?

My school offers a range of extra curricular activities, such as Gaelic, soccer and basketball. Recently they have created an athletics team. As well as this my school does the Girls Active program for first to third year girls. This gives girls in first to third year the chance to try out new sports and have fun while being active with their friends.

‍

How/When did you first get involved in your sport?

I first got involved in sports when I was eight years old. I started playing Gaelic for my club Molaise Gales and I’ve been playing ever since. My club got offered the Gaelic for Girls program when I was in under 10s, this gave me the once in a lifetime opportunity to play in Croke Park.

‍

Are there any othersport/activities that you are involved in? If so, how did you get involved?

At the beginning of transition year I wanted to try something new so I decided I was going to take up a new sport. I decided to try kickboxing. I joined Mugendo Kickboxing Club in Sligo and absolutely love it and it is a sport I hope to keep up going forward.

‍

How has sport and physical activity impacted your life?

Sport and physical activity has impacted my life positively in so many ways. Firstly, I find sport extremely beneficial for my mental wellbeing. Last year when I was doing my junior cert I used to get stressed a lot but after I would come back from training or a run my head used to be clear and it helped me to focus more. Secondly, I’ve met so many different people through sport and made lots of new friends. Thirdly, I’ve learnt a few valuable lessons and life skills through sport such resilience and determination. An example of resilience I always use is in a county final with my team. It’s a match that always sticks out to me. It was halftime and we were down by 14 points, but instead of giving up me and my team worked twice as hard in the second half and came back and won the match by a few points! As well as this it shows the determination we had as a team to win, this is something I use outside of sport as well. I used it a lot to make my book. I had to show people I was determined to turn my idea into a reality.

‍

Was there anyone you met whilst conducting your research for ‘Girls in the Game’ who inspires you to be active?

From doing Girls In The Game I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many different people. I got to interview each player through zoom which was definitely one of the highlights of my project. Every player was extremely helpful. I really enjoyed doing the interviews as I got to learn so much about all the players.

‍

Who has been your most influential coach and why?

I’ve been very lucky to have many great coaches but there is one who has made a massive difference to me. That is Paul Healy because of all that he has done for my club and for Ladies football in my club. He is very dedicated to our team. His positivity and belief in us is keep us motivated and also his knowledge of the game keeps improving our team. I’ve had Paul at a few different age groups, and he always made training fun and enjoyable when we were younger which is very important to keep young girls in sport.

‍

Have you noticed other girls your age stepping away from sport? If so, how does that make you feel?

Yes, I’ve noticed different girls dropping out of sport. It makes me feel sad to see all their missing out on, as I mentioned there above sport is so important for physical and mental wellbeing and you can gain so much from sport.

‍

What’s your advice to someone thinking about dropping out of sport?

My advice to someone who is thinking about dropping out of sport would be to stick with it. Sport has so many benefits and is so important in your life. I would also encourage people to find a sport that they enjoy. If you’re not enjoying the sport that you’re in now that’s ok, but find a sport that you do enjoy rather than quit altogether.

‍

Is there any advice you have for parents trying to support their daughter participating in sport?

My advice to parents would be to be supportive of your daughter in sport. The main thing you should be focused on is if your daughter is enjoying her sport and that’s she being active. If she’s not enjoying it encourage her to try something new and help her find something that she enjoys.

‍

Have you any advice for someone thinking of getting involved in sport?

I would say get involved. I know it can be scary at first trying something new, but sport is so important and there is so many benefits.

‍

TELL US A FUN FACT ABOUT YOURSELF!

A fun fact about me is that I have 3 trophies for ballet.

‍

Information of how people can support ‘Girls in the Game’.

You can follow me on Instagram @girlsinthegame23

You can follow me on Twitter @_GirlsInTheGame

You can email me atgirlsinthegame2023@gmail.com

‍

‍

A special thanks to Sarah for telling Her Moves all about her story. If you have an interesting story to tell, please let us know. You can message us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter!

‍

#FindSomethingThatMovesYou

‍

‍