Abigail Ring on the surreal experience of being coached by her hero

Michael Bolton

From watching Valerie Mulcahy win All-Ireland titles with Cork to listening to her advice in training, it has been a surreal experience for Abigail Ring to be coached by her hero.

Mulcahy, who won 10 All-Ireland football titles with Cork, is a selector for the Cork ladies this year as they aim to bounce back into Division One at the first time of asking.

A hero in her county, one player who was particularly thrilled with her appointment was Abigail Ring, who is grateful to lean on her experience in training.

"She was one of my biggest inspirations growing up—she won so many All-Irelands with Cork.

"I feel like her perspective and her winning mentality coming into our camp has really influenced us. Especially as a forward, she is really good at coaching us.

"We all used to go to Croke Park and watch her winning, and now we want to win as well. I feel like she has had a really positive impact on our camp.

"It was a surreal moment when she said she was going to join the management."

Cork’s Road to Promotion

Cork started life in Division Two last weekend with a comfortable win over Westmeath, in what is unfamiliar territory for the county.

Despite narrowly missing out on the All-Ireland final last season, Cork began this season having been relegated from Division One.

With promotion at the first attempt the goal for Cork, it will be far from easy, as the competition in ladies' football continues to grow. For Ring, this can only be seen as a good thing.

"A few years back, there would have been a lot of Dublin v Cork finals, but now we have Kerry back in it, Armagh, and all these really competitive teams. It is really good for the sport.

"It brings more media attention to the sport, which is great. Sometimes women's sport doesn't get enough coverage.

"There are a lot more people watching it on TG4 because it is so competitive—there is no single team winning over and over again."

Developing for the FutureHaving moved on from last season’s disappointment, Cork will be hoping to build momentum with a strong league campaign.

While Ring may still be young, she believes her experience over the last couple of seasons will be important in helping younger players develop.

"I do think that in Division Two, it is a chance for us to experiment a bit. Hopefully, we will get to a final, but it is also important for us to experiment and maintain that consistency of winning.

"Bringing in players that haven't had many opportunities and developing younger players is key to strengthening our panel.

"I feel like it is really important to have a strong squad, not just a strong team.

"We are really striving for a strong panel of 36 players, where everyone has had experience playing senior football."