WHEN it came to giving up camogie to concentrate on athletics, the final push sending Ciara Mageean from field to track came from a surprising source.
"Come the end," recalls Ciara, "my own dad, who was my biggest fan and the person who pushed me the most in camogie, was the very one who said 'Right, you've had enough now, you've got a world championship coming up and you're off playing championship coming up a week before you leave…'
"I could have got a smack of a hurl and not be able to race for Ireland. It was a decision that I had to come to but it wasn't easy at all.
"I remember having to tell the county coach that I wouldn't play county that year, I had too much on, playing for the club and all my running training…That was really hard, I loved playing everything."
Given that her dad is former Down hurler Chris 'The Hunter' Mageean, his stance was indicative of his daughter's talent for running – and has been fully justified.
Yet Ciara, who cites an aunt, Edel Mason, the first woman to win All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Championships with two different counties (Down and then Antrim), as a major inspiration, still longs to play the game:
"I definitely do miss the camogie and it was a very tough decision for me. Growing up, I knew in my last year at [minor] camogie that I should focus on athletics, although I'd been playing senior camogie since I was no age, so it wasn't the step up to senior that was the issue – I needed a distinct line to say, 'OK, this will the point.'
"It was really tough. Certain people were saying 'Oh, you should be giving up that oul camogie now and focus on athletics' – and on the other side, people saying 'Oh, come on, you're a fantastic camogie player, let's pursue that'.
"The people closest to me, who probably had the most influence on my life, knew not to put pressure on, that it was a decision I had to come to."
She couldn't abandon camogie completely, even then – and plans to return some day: "I miss it hugely. I did have a few sneaky matches where I snuck out and sat on the bench – my team said just to scare the other team, but I always ended up on the field…
"I always have some hurls in the house, it's a big part of who I am, made me the athlete I am – and I look forward one day to maybe picking up a hurl again."
