Sinéad Aherne ready to go the extra mile to earn Dublin’s crown back

Sinéad Aherne is careful not to give the wrong impression. Just because she’s dressed to run and here to lend her support to the annual running fest that is the Goal Mile doesn’t mean she’s out to help convert the wider masses.

In fact, a mile is about as far as she’s ever run. As the long serving corner forward and captain of the Dublin women’s football team Aherne’s priority is still speed and not distance, perhaps now more than ever, not that age has necessarily all or nothing to do with it.

“At this stage, I am trying to conserve my speed, so long distances runs aren’t really my forte,” she says. “So one mile is just about the longest distance for me. I was injured for a lot of the lockdown period when people were out running the 5km, so I missed that opportunity to start my long distance running career.

“But looking forward to another Goal Mile this Christmas, yes. Last year, I just went out on my own. The annual one was normally around Malahide Castle, so it will be nice get back to that atmosphere, running with people, and more people donating, which is the key thing.”

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Aherne is speaking from experience on all fronts: her links to GOAL were reinforced in December 2019 when she travelled to Malawi with fellow patrons Róisín Upton, the Irish hockey player, and rugby international Jenny Murphy, which explains the long running cause.

“Getting to see firsthand some of the work Goal does, in so many countries across the world, particularly some of the work they do around empowering women in the communities, was something special. It kicked off from there, getting involved in fund raising over the last number of years, pitching in when you can.”

After last year’s virtual running, the Goal Mile returns to more traditional means this Christmas Day, although the virtual option will remain. Prior to the pandemic, over 170 Goal Miles were organised across Ireland (AIB also coming on board as new three-year sponsors).

At age 35, Aherne’s playing resume also speaks volumes for itself: since making her Dublin senior debut in 2003, she’s played in 11 All-Ireland finals, and before this year the record stood at five wins, five losses. A young, uprising Meath team denied Aherne and Dublin a five-in-a-row this year, only she gives the sense that loss has only reinforced the ambitions for 2022.

For now at least there is no talk of retirements: “We did our own reflection as players, the management as well. We’re actually meeting this week just to close off on last season, then wipe the slate clean. And whatever group comes back next year, in terms of retirement, people are just taking their time away, lots of us are still involved with the club, but I think most of us still have the boots on anyway.

“I was back with my own club within a week (St Sylvester’s won the Dublin Intermediate, now heading for the Leinster championship), so enjoying that, and haven’t ruminated too much on next year, but when the new season comes into focus we’ll see where we are, mentally and physically.”

After her 10 previous finals with Dublin, the 2021 showdown was possibly different in the fact Dublin went in as heavy favourites against a Meath team playing in their first senior final.

“Maybe people outside the camp had different feelings on the match. We certainly knew what we were coming up against with Meath, a really good team, on an absolute high going into the final. They absolutely delivered on the potential they had, and unfortunately for us our performance was just a bit below par.

“It was the same one the (Dublin) men’s side, people tend to take a tunnel view at times, the dominance of one team is never going to end. There’s always a cycle there, but I certainly don’t think it’s the end of the cycle for this Dublin team. There’s plenty more life in the journey the team is on, and it was never in our thinking that it would go on forever.”

The wider issue of where the women’s game is going - Meath’s emergence some evidence of that - needs to be set against what Aherne considers some enduring imbalances between the men’s and women’s game.

“I know the merged GPA (and women’s GPA) has made equality very much the focus. It doesn’t necessary mean the two association have to fully merge together, but I do think there needs to be a better path in terms of what that means to the two associations, where we go next on the equality front, and to me that means giving the same proposition to a young male and a young female player, as they go through careers, Maybe a merger needs some more exploration, but better links is definitely a focus for the GAA.”

* To register for your local Goal Mile visit: www.goalmile.org