Laois' Stephen Duff takes DCU to third-level ladies football glory

Ballyfin native Stephen Duff added another accolade to his name with last weekend's victory over University of Limerick in the final of the O'Connor Cup. This is the premier competition in ladies football when it comes to third-level education.

The championship win was coupled with their win in the Division 1 final before Christmas against the same opposition. This now means that in the last 12 months, Stephen has won a league and championship double with both Portlaoise and DCU, a fair achievement in itself.

Stephen sat down with Leinster Express/ Laois Live to discuss the ins and outs of ladies college football as well as the differences between managing a college team compared to a club setup.

DCU were hoping to reverse last year's O'Connor Cup result as they lost out to Cork in the semi-final, Stephen describes how important it was to go further in this year's competition.

"We messed it up last year. We lost to Cork in the semi-final and we shouldn’t have lost at all. It was a big relief off the girls’ shoulders. A lot of them have been there for four years chasing success. They would have started playing in 2019, the year after we last won it in 2018. They probably had eyes on another one. There were four girls on the starting team in their final year so it was a big relief for them to finish up with an O’Connor Cup. 

The third-level competitions are played during the week to facilitate the county players and give them sufficient time to recover. Stephen feels college football allows the girls to express themselves as they don't hold as much of a burden compared to being the stars for their counties.

"The big difference between county football and college football is you’re getting players that their county depends on them. When they come into the college setup, they can be themselves and enjoy their football. There’s no real pressure on them, so like Emma Duggan, Kate Kenny, even Roisin Ennis, Offaly captain, she’s captain of Offaly at 21 and with that comes pressure.

"Everyone’s looking to her to always be one of the best performers. She comes into DCU and she gets to relax, Claire Dunne is the Sligo captain and she’s only in her second year of college. They get to let their hair down a bit more and they’re playing with people they’re living with for the first time and the people they’re growing up with.

DCU can call on a plethora of players that play at the highest level with their counties, however Stephen believes a team is built on a collection of players and not by individuals. This can be difficult with many different players having differing styles of play. 

"We have 13 counties represented out of our 27 players on the panel. In the past, we would have a lot of Division 1 players; girls from Dublin,Meath and Mayo. This year for the league, we only had one player from a Division 1 county so it was a much wider spread of players, but it was also from an awful lot of differing experiences. The strength of the collective is more important than the strength of any individual, so if anyone is deciding to go off and do their own thing, they won’t be part of the group.

"We’ve experienced that in the past where things get tough and players revert back to what they know from their own counties, and it causes us to lose. The girls saw that themselves 12 months ago when a couple of people went off and did their own thing. This year, it was much easier to implement that because the girls could see this for themselves.

The Portlaoise Ladies manager knows the role that playing football can have on these young girls and stresses the importance of these young ladies having an outlet to express themselves.

"Having a sport or a hobby should be a massive part of anyone’s lives. Everyone needs an outlet, no matter what level you’re at. People can dismiss the value that it has for someone’s well being and someone’s ability to perform in work or in school. For these inter-county players, they need to have a college outlet of football. Tara and Ciara Needham are twins and they played against each other in the final, they actually marked one another, you wouldn’t see that anywhere else. The opportunities that they’re getting through scholarships and bursaries and access to resources is massive. They’re getting set up for a career which is the most important thing."