Gaelic Games

‘All of us have a responsibility’: Anna Galvin stresses importance of mutual respect on the pitch

Kerry star praises new initiative aimed at encouraging respect in LGFA and says she is happy to pass armband to Síofra O’Shea

Kerry's Anna Galvin (right) shakes hands with Mayo's Kathryn Sullivan in the Ladies Football Senior Championship semi-final in Croke Park last year. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho
Kerry's Anna Galvin (right) shakes hands with Mayo's Kathryn Sullivan in the Ladies Football Senior Championship semi-final in Croke Park last year. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho
Daire Walsh
Thu Mar 23 2023 - 06:00

Kerry star Anna Galvin is hopeful that the Ladies’ Gaelic Football Association’s (LGFA) new “Take A Second” respect campaign can have a lasting impact across all grades of the association.

The initiative is aimed at encouraging and celebrating a culture of positivity and mutual respect among all LGFA members.

The campaign’s manifesto video was filmed recently at CLG Na Fianna in the capital with Leah Caffrey (the club where Galvin and the Dublin defender became team-mates in 2022).

Galvin said: “We played actor for a little while, which was a bit of an unusual experience. It’s a lovely campaign. An important message to get across is that, no matter who it is on the pitch, whether it’s the referee, the players, the management on the sideline, all of us have a responsibility to treat each other as humans as well,” Galvin said.

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“Frustrations run high sometimes and things like that, but it is so important to take that second and just remember there is a human on the receiving end of it.”

A senior debutant in 2015, Galvin recently helped Kerry qualify for the Lidl National Football League Division One final. Connacht outfit Galway will provide the opposition in a final-round group game this Sunday at Tuam Stadium (throw-in 2pm) as well as the NFL decider itself.

While Galvin understands people mightn’t see their meeting this weekend as a game of major significance, she acknowledged Kerry will be looking for a response to last weekend’s defeat against Munster rivals Cork.

“I know we certainly were pretty disappointed in ourselves with our loss last weekend. We were going well [five wins on the bounce] and we were getting decent performances, which is what is most important. If we had performed well and still lost, that’s all well and good, but we were quite disappointed with how we played last weekend. For us, this weekend is no small game.”

Both on and off the pitch, 2023 is proving to be a year of considerable change for Galvin.

In addition to passing the mantle of team captain over to Síofra O’Shea (though she is filling the key role of vice-captain), this May will see the occupational therapist leaving her current position with the Trinity Disability Service in Dublin for a post that is slightly closer to home.

“I’ve been up and down for the last year and a half from Dublin to Kerry, but it has become too expensive and too long a time to be spending in the car. Just a little bit too difficult to manage. I’m not sure exactly where yet, but I’m going to head towards Limerick or Cork [for work]. Give myself a little bit of a shorter commute every week.

“Captaincy last year was a big one. It’s a huge honour and it’s brilliant to be captain, but I was happy enough to let Síofra – who is a phenomenal leader – to take the reins. Personally, I’ve been able to catch my breath a little bit more and focus on my own game,” Galvin added.