Carley new Ladies manager

Posted: February 24th, 2009

Ronan Carley has just been appointed as the new manager of the Simonstown Intermediate ladies team. Carley, who previously managed the Meath Under 16 and Junior teams, is a teacher in St. Oliver's N.S.

Ronan originally hails from Roscommon. Asked about his ambitions for the side he had this to say -

When Sarah Shiels had initially suggested to me, before Christmas, that the Intermediate team position before was available I was interested as I knew there was good potential there but nevertheless was still somewhat hesitant. It’s no small matter taking charge of any adult team. There is a lot of responsibility involved.

"The team have been competing quite well for the past number of years but unfortunately had slipped down to division two in the league and had lost their senior status last year in the championship. Also players of the calibre of Sinead Dooley (injured) and Jackie Shiels (now secondary school teaching in London) are no longer available for the immediate future so it will certainly be up to other players to step up to the plate in the months ahead. In 2008 I managed the U-14 Simonstown side who reached the Division 2 final and who have many fine players. Also, the U-16’s reached the Division 3 final. Of course, the U-12’s also won the Division One final which was a tremendous achievement for the club too. In that respect, based on the achievements of those teams I could see that there is good potential there for sure. However, I suppose that is true of many clubs. The potential is often there. However, to bring that potential to fruition takes a lot of hard work. Success doesn’t just happen in a vacuum. It occurs because players are coming to training regularly, have a good attitude and want to play.

With young players of the calibre of Rachael Flynn, Niamh Lister, Aishling Sheridan, Sophie Ishola, Orla Donegan, Stephanie Barr and Kirsty Hayden all starting to blossom I believe that this year could be quite productive if they can integrate well with the more established players. It’s disappointing not to have Sinead (Dooley) available due to her knee injury. Also, Jackie (Shiels) being away is a big loss but there are other players there like Eve Wardick, Fiona Feeney, Grainne Harrington, Ann Currane and Colette O’Connor whom I have confident will to provide leadership in the year ahead.

There are also a few players who haven’t lined out for Simonstown in a few years, whom I’m told were very talented. I have already contacted some of them and have gotten quite a good response. There are others whom I will be hoping to coax back to the fold.It’s all good and well having lots of young players but in truth you’ll win nothing at adult level with just kids!"

With regard to his ambitions for the year ahead Carley had this to say-"At the moment I don’t know very much about the other teams whom we’ll be playing in the league and championship. As such I don’t wish to make sweeping statements about what we may or may not be capable of achieving. Basically, I suppose I would be seeking to make the team as competitive as possible in the year ahead. I would like to get to a position where there is real competition for places and where players are not complacent about their position. Also, I’ve Aishling Cleary, Enda O’Reilly and Brendan Murray on board who were involved last year so that should ensure good continuity.

We have already had a team meeting last week in Simonstown to discuss our training programme for the year ahead and are now doing circuit training in Simonstown on Friday nights, usually from 7:30pm to 9pm to get us ready for the year ahead. Numbers have been good and as such it’s all systems go! However, I do believe there will be a lot of hard work to be done before we can get to a level where we’re a tough side to beat and to compete against.