Family affair for Louise Ward as Kilkerrin Clonberne drive for five
Michael Bolton
This time of year has become very familiar for Louise Ward and her Kilkerrin Clonberne teammates, as they are Galway champions for the 12th successive year.
All-Ireland champions for the last four years, the Galway club will once again be the team to catch in their pursuit of five-in-a-row.
What has made this club's success so special is the family connection across the team.
Louise Ward has shared the pitch with her sister Nicola, with their father also involved in the management team. For Louise, this makes the memories all the more special.
"Dad would have introduced us to football when we were five years of age, bringing us to the boys' training, and he was with us all the way up to adult level.
"It is very fitting that he is involved with the club winning All-Ireland's he would have been the one who started a lot of the girls off.
"Michael Divilly was there in those years as well, and his daughters are involved. Nearly each of the management has a daughter in the team.
"It is extra special that you get to share those moments with your family. They are closer to the action, and they are on the sideline going through it with you.
"In our house, it is a comfort blanket that you have there that Nicola is going through the exact same thing as you. To enjoy the moments with your family is huge."
With Westport on the horizon in the Connacht championship, it will be seen as the next step towards more silverware, and ultimately, another All-Ireland.
A team that will be remembered for their success for years to come, a fifth successive All-Ireland title for Kilkerrin Clonberne would be the ultimate achievement.
However, the Galway footballer knows all too well about heartbreak in the final stages, and uses teams who have fallen short of five-in-a-row quests as an example of how tough an achievement it is.
"We haven't really discussed a five-in-a-row or a dive for five, as people like to call it. It is really hard to do, big teams haven't even done it, the Limerick hurlers, for example.
"Winning the first All-Ireland after having so much disappointment in the semi-final and final stage is absolutely huge, not even realising the rest of success is going to come.
"If you think too far ahead of where you are going to be, you are going to fall into a trap and probably slip up and not be there."
For Galway, it was another year of heartbreak after going out in the semi-finals after extra-time to eventual winners Dublin.
This followed the final defeat to Kerry in 2024, as the tribeswomen's search of a first All-Ireland since 2004 goes on.
While Ward says it was an opportunity missed, she thanked her father for allowing the players to recover from the defeat to prepare for the championship.
"We were hugely disappointed after the Dublin game. They were the better team in extra time, but in that first 60 minutes, I think it was a game that we left behind us.
"Regardless of what happened to bring the game to extra time, there were chances in that first half that we didn't execute, and we should have won it.
"Dad, who was our manager, gave us that four-week break between finishing with the county before starting with the club. It gave us a little bit of time to tune out and get that mental refocus and get the body right."
