Fahy's football journey leads home

Ruth Fahy is captain of the Galway team in the Bus Eireann Women's National League.

Respect is earned. Ruth Fahy started earning that respect on the field of play as an eight year old in the school yard where as the only girl she would be the last one picked for the break time games. Gradually she progressed up the pecking order where the very pragmatic 8 year old boys want the 'best players' on their team, even if she is a girl.

Ruth is now skipper of the Galway team in the Women's National League having returned for her extensive travels. She carries a passion for the game that infects the players around her - Galway are not just there to make up the number if she has anything to do with it.

Her formal footballing education started at ten, when she joined Salthill Devon alongside Méabh DeBúrca and Julianne Russell, who are now both senior internationals, where Kieran O'Mahony and John Flannery were the coaches. However there was no opposition as no other clubs saw fit to put the time into the girls game and so competition was restricted to occasional games against Lifford from Ennis.

Ruth moved up to training regularly with the women's squad at about 13, but she was still too young to play to be selected. That squad, managed and coached by Tony Johnstone and yours truly, while competitive was crying out for the talent displayed by Ruth and young peers. It was about this time that Ruth added the quality of patience to her love of the game as she waited for her chance. She remembers "my first game for the team was on the wing against Hibs".

"They we all bigger and stronger, but just getting on the pitch was everything". Physical size was never an issue for Ruth from day one.

Moving on to secondary school in Galway, Ruth enrolled at the Jesuits Coláiste Iognáid or the 'Jes' as it is known locally where to her dismay there was no girls soccer - so undaunted she got together a petition to start a team, but with no teacher interested, no team ensued. It would be another couple of years before a girl’s team took the field at the school. Meanwhile Ruth was part of Connacht under age squads that lifted the 'Interpros' three years on the trot. Insanely Ruth was not considered for the Schools Internationals as the school had no team.

Ruth moved on to the University of Limerick in 2006, where she pursued a degree in Law and Europeans Studies, with the first item on her agenda being the college soccer team. Her footballing experience to date had been piecemeal and haphazard to a large extent.

“Soccer in U.L. was taken quite seriously - there was a structure to follow and definite schedule. I was playing best football to date at that time".

Ruth worked as a lifeguard in the U.L Sports Arena while in college, so a lot of her world centred around training and playing - with a few classes thrown in.

The Irish Universities squad travelled to the 2009 World Student Games in Serbia and Ruth Fahy played her role starting one game and coming off the bench in all others. The previous season Ruth had lined out with the Galway team in the Champions League tournament - they qualified by winning the FAI Senior cup.

"I had to pass up on a work experience placement - but it was worth it just to play at that level".

Maybe it was a wonder lust or just a desire to play on 'fresh fields' but Ruth decided to put her UL degree programme on hold in 2009 and head to the US for a year. Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania beckoned, where she studied exercise science and psychology on a scholarship.  The athletic programmes in US Universities need to be experienced.

“The emphasis on conditioning is amazing - we might have players here who are more skilful and technical but their fitness levels are miles ahead," she explained.

Ruth's protracted world tour, only really starting at this stage - taking her back to UL to complete her degree in 2010. That season she struck a purple patch with UL, scoring in 11 games on the trot and being named Player of the Year. It was during this time that Ruth was involved in numerous sessions with an expanded Irish senior squad (including camps in Spain and Portugal), but did not manage to make the final squad. This season's league offers Ruth a good platform to get back on the radar screen for Sue Ronan's squad.

Following graduation, Ruth had a six month internship as a project management officer with CSG, in Galway, taking a half season with Castlebar's League of Ireland squad under the late Jeremy Dee.

New Zealand was the next port of call. Ruth explains that her boyfriend Conor, had sorted out a 'Strength & Conditioning' work placement in Auckland and "it seemed like an exciting thing to do", so the bags were packed once more.

Ruth played with Three Kings United in their regional league, but did manage to pick up a back injury for her trouble. After six months in the land of the Kiwi and a couple more in Australia, Ruth swapped hemispheres again and this time Nottingham University was the destination for a Masters Degree in Sports Law.

Due to class commitment time, soccer was off the programme on this occasion, but Ruth Fahy does not do 'idle' and so she took up boxing as her primary sport, having discovered her love for boxing conditioning with Galway Boxing Club the previous year.  Although slight of frame Ruth has always been 'tough as nails' and this episode probably reinforces that notion for all those who know her.

The antipodes had not seen the last of Ruth though and she headed back to Oz - Melbourne this time to play some serious soccer with South Melbourne - the fact that boyfriend Conor was still there may also have had something to do with it! She played on the left wing with them, enjoying it immensely.

Was it serendipity when Ruth's visa ran out for Australia in August that plans were well advanced for a Galway team in the Bus Eireann Women's National League?

Ruth Fahy is a natural choice to captain the Galway team. Her passion for the game is infectious, but it is also focussed. Here is a young woman who has crammed a hell of a lot into the last few years - she approaches all life projects with an intelligence and desire that is sure to bring results - surely the green jersey at the highest level can't be far away.