By Kelsey Doogan 

Photo Credit: Paul Lundy Sports Photography 

20- year old Dublin Ladies Football star Ashling Nyhan is representing her club, St Brigid’s, at the highest level,all while studying Sports Science and Health at TU Dublin. “From playing myself, I wanted to understand how athletes can get the very best out of themselves physically and mentally,.” said Nyhan.  

Hailing from Castleknock in Dublin, near Phoenix Park, Ashling told TheCity how she got into sport and what drove her to play at such a high level. 

“I was kind of nearly forced into GAA when I was younger. I have three older sisters who all play sports and I use to kick around with them in the garden, my oldest sister played underage for Dublin as well. My dad also coached a few underage Dublin teams, and I loved going out to watch their games, that definitely sparked my hopes to play for Dublin.” 

As children we often brush off memories as our minds are so busy with different thoughts and it’s hard to remember things, but certain memories will live with us forever. Ashling told us about her earliest childhood memories. 

“My earliest memory is probably playing the Go Games for both the girls and boys teams, I played with my cousin on the boys team which was quite funny as we were very competitive.” 

The sports stars of today are expected to take on so much in their younger years between representing their school or college, to working a part time job. Playing for their club and doing it all while pulling on the Dublin jersey, and Nyhan is no exception to this trend. 

“I do find it quite hard to juggle both college and training. Sometimes one has to give for the other to progress. Especially around exam time, I could have a very long training session the night before an exam. Some nights I’id be up late trying to get everything done but it all balances out in the end, so far anyway. I love what I study and the high intensity environment, so it’s worth the balance.” 

For many of those who are lucky enough to succeed in their sport, it comes at a great sacrifice to their free time. Events and social gatherings often take a back seat as a result. 

“I don’t really have much free time, but when I do I like to spend it with my family, friends and my boyfriend. I like to try switch my brain off from football the days I have off. I think it’s important to try separate the environments and basically have a life outside of football. I think it helps keep a good mental space for the long season we do end up having.” 

Photo Credit:  Maurice Grehan 

The days are long for students like Ashling as they aim to squeeze their busy schedules into a short space of time that comes in a day. Athletes balance more than most adults do in their day- to- day routines. 

“Typically if I am in season during college, In the morning at 5:45 I work in a gym as a PT so it’s early hours ( I am so bad for early mornings ). I then head into college – the commute isn’t too bad its only around 25 mins to Tallaght. I get home after college around 4/5 and then I head to training around 5/6 ish. Training does go on for quite a while nearly 5 hours sometimes but we’d cover everything from pitch work, gym work, meetings and videos. I normally get home around 10:30pm and then It’s just about switching off and getting ready to go to bed.” 

Reeping the rewards of a busy life is an amazing incentive to keep going and word through the hard times. 

“Captaining Dublin at U14 was a really special moment because it was the first time I realised how much I loved leading and being part of something bigger than myself. Making the step up to the Senior panel and pulling on the Dublin jersey at that level was another proud moment ,it’s something I dreamt of as a kid, and to live it is unbelievable and play with some of the girls I looked up to growing up as well was surreal. But I think my proudest was winning the All-Ireland Final this year, I have been to watch the All-Ireland Finals every year, dreaming of doing it myself I never thought it would be possible so to do that with girls I have grown up playing with from u13 was a dream come true.” 

Photo Credit: Maurice Grehan

Ashling as achieved so much already in her playing career so we asked her what helped to keep her going and the best piece of advice she ever received from a coach over the years that has stuck with her all this time. 

“One thing that has stuck to me that coaches have said are “Control the Controllables” –  there’s so much you can’t control in a game or training, but your attitude, your effort, and how you respond to things are always in your hands. I think that helps keep my head when going through the highs and lows of the game.” 

Life is filled with goals and ambitions. There is life after college and we all take different paths, whether that is continue our studies in another field or gaining a job.  

“After college I want to do a masters in physiotherapy. Any components of my course that relate slightly to physiotherapy I love and actually understand so well. It has always been an area of interest for me even outside of sports.” 

Ashling is just one of the thousands of student athletes up and down the country  balancing their busy lives and they are an inspiration to us all.  

Word Count: 965