CAFFERKY KNOWS HOW IMPORTANT SPORT CAN BE
SINCE moving back to these shores after a significant stint overseas, Mayo footballer Lisa Cafferky has been playing a major role in the development of young sportspeople across a range of different disciplines at one of Ireland’s leading third-level institutions.
Following a six-year spell in England — when she featured in two
TG4 All-Ireland Junior Football Championship semi-finals for London — Cafferky took up a role as a Student Sport Pathway Manager at Trinity College Dublin in 2019.
Having worked in a number of sports development roles in the English capital, this was always going to be a position that appealed to the Kilmovee club woman. She also worked as an Urban Programme Officer and National Development Officer with the LGFA before moving to London in 2013 and with so many different sporting activities taking place in the college, Cafferky is currently loving life in Trinity.
“We have 49 different sports clubs in Trinity and I know when I first moved over, I probably couldn’t have named 49 different sports clubs! It’s fantastic, the range of activities that we have in Trinity and there really is something for everyone. We’ve currently 55 per cent of the student population that are active and engaged in our sports programmes,” Cafferky said.
“I think it is really important that there is an offer out there for every student. There’s all your traditional sports, but then adventure sports are particularly increasing in popularity over the last while.
“I think it has shown me the importance of providing a range of different opportunities and not just your standard, traditional sports.”
Having made a sub appearance in Mayo’s All-Ireland SFC semifinal defeat to Galway in 2019, Cafferky started alongside her sister Sinead as the team also reached the last four of the top-tier in each of the past three years under the management of Michael Moyles.
Season
However, the Crossmolina man stepped aside in the wake of their third consecutive penultimate round exit last summer and it is Liam McHale who took over the reins for the 2024 season.
Vastly experienced within the men’s game, McHale has Mayo occupying fifth spot in Division 1 of the Lidl National Football League ahead of their clash with Waterford at Ballina Stephenites tomorrow, when a positive result would see them retain their topflight NFL status.
“It has been fantastic. I think whenever a new management team comes in, it’s a new challenge and a new opportunity. Liam has fantastic experience, both on the basketball court, but also as a huge star from Mayo. I remember watching him in the ’96 All-Ireland against Meath,” Cafferky remarked of McHale.
“Definitely he is someone I would have looked up to as a player, but he has brought a brilliant perspective to the game. He’s got a really strong management team with him as well. He’s definitely a really positive character and he wants to play a positive brand of football as well. Which is something I think that, as Mayo people, we like to see.”