1. Hi Caitlin. Worlds is only a week away now. You must be getting excited?
I'm in disbelief its only a week away! I can't wait to put on the
number 5 and go out and represent Ireland with a group of Girls who
I've spent six months getting to know and learning to play with. My
excitment is getting to an all time high with the week countdown on
us. Myself and Leanne are debating whether its going to be the
shortest or longest week of our life. I'll guess We'll have to see!
2. A tournament on home soil. Does that give you an advantage or bring pressure?
A mixture of both I think. The advantage of having so much support and
energy from Irish support will help carry us in our games. But then on
the other side you can see the added pressure of playing in front of
your family and friends and the want to play your best. I think the
London Olympics is a great example of it. Hopefully both Irish teams
will be able to channel the nerves into positive energy and make the
tournament on home soil a sucess.
3. How did somebody with a background in intercounty GAA find herself
getting involved in ultimate?
Through School. I love sports and when Leanne said to come try
Ultimate. I said I might as well give it a try. It was something I
found enjoyable at the start and then being exposed to such a highly
competitve level at EYUC really made an impact on me. GAA is something
I've grown up with, Ultimate is something I chose to play. It makes
them both important to me and I hope to continue both for as long as
possible.
4. You were part of the squad who went to Poland for EYUC last year.
How did you find that experience?
It was the best week of my life so far. I felt as though that week
brought Ultimate to a new level in my eyes. You get to see every side
of people when you experience such a physically challenging week with
them. The bonds that it forges are amazing! I left with an experience
that has stood to me greatly over the past twelve months. Our
performance in Poland both delights and dissapoints me. Some games
were fanatastic such as they Czech and Polish games and we took great
pride in them. But others such as our French, Swedish and German game
were hard to think back on. We had so much more potential and its
dissapointing to look back on it and say if only we had thrown this or
ran harder. Fingers crossed this year we'll go out off the mark and
put it up to every team that comes at us!
5. You've pretty much been playing ultimate non stop for the past 12
months. You must be far more confident in your own ability this time
round having gained so much more experience?
I've been very lucky in all the tournaments I've been given the
opportunity to experience in the past year and with the coaching I've
been offered here in Cork. I can't say I'm more confident in my
abitlities but I'm definatly not as nervous as I was last year and I'm
going to go in with the same attitude of giving it my all.
6. Obviously it's Worlds this time round. What would you consider to
be good progress from Poland to this years tournament?
Progress would be to challenge every single team we come up against.
Last year, as I said we had mixed performances. But this year if we
could pull together as a team and make every point count I have no
doubt things can be improved.
7. What do you consider to be your biggest strength and what is the
team's biggest strength going into the tournament?
Thats a hard question. I think my cutting has improved and I always
want to be a potential option for a throw. In terms of the team I
think when our zone defence is put into action it really is one of our
strong points and then when the tables are turned our zone offence
when we focus and everyone pulls together is very effective.
8. A question from Jess Daly - What's it like being "an captaen is
fearr" and having 18 other girls looking up to you?
When I read this question in Jess's interview I got so nervous. Being
captain is such an honour! I really want to lead by example, this is
why my focus is to go out and never give up.
I've found captaining being alot different to what I envisaged. Its
such a challenge and I've enjoyed it so far. When I think of the girls
looking up to me, its something I find strange. I'm friends with all
the girls and trying to find the balance between the two roles is
interesting. So far I think its worked, when I get onto the pitch I
hope I provide the girls with someone to look up to.
9. With 7 players returning from last years squad there's a nice
balance of familiarity and new faces around the place. How do you
think the team have gelled over the past few months?
I think the team has gelled really well. I mean bringing 19 teenage
girls together is always going to bring challenges. But things have
really come together. Everyone knows our aim is to go out and compete
and thats what we're here to do.
10. Now that the groups have been released what are your thoughts on
the group we've been drawn in; Colombia, Germany, Japan, Finland and
GB U17 (non competitive)?
Its a tough group. But then again they all are. Columbia are coming in
as World champions and Germany, I think, one of their strongest
competitors. That game would be one to watch! Japan are also arriving
in on the back of their Senior Womens teams success and will be great
to play. I wonder will they play the one and a half defence and if so
how will we cope. In my eyes Finland will be a match we should look
forward too. Hopefully it will be highly competitive affair. Its also
great to see Great Britain coming over with an Under 17 team after
having one last year. Our match against them proved to be a turning
point on our offensive play and I look forward to another highly
spirited game.
11. Molly O'Toole is next up... Do you have a question for her?
Molly: Are you looking forward to Co-Captaining UCD next year? Also
how did championship go?
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