Mairead Mawe will bring passion and enthusiasm to her new West Cork LGFA PRO role

NEW West Cork LGFA PRO Mairead Mawe is a welcome addition to the organisation’s committee following years of dedicated work on behalf of Dohenys GAA.

An office administrator with Kerry Lehane and Co in Dunmanway, Mawe has been an integral volunteer, player and committee member within Dohenys GAA and LGFA clubs.

Her dedicated work as PRO ensured Dohenys’ adult and minor successes were reported through the club’s various social media channels over the past three seasons. Now, Mawe has been elected as PRO for the entire West Cork LGFA region and brings an abundance of enthusiasm to her new role.

‘I represented Dohenys as a player nearly all of my life and have been PRO for our ladies football club over the last three years,’ Mawe explains.

‘My parents, Diarmuid and Margaret, set up Dohenys underage ladies football when we were young. I finished up playing football when I was pregnant with my second child, Ellie, and took on one or two new committee roles within the club shortly after that.

‘I absolutely love the role of PRO. Maybe it is because, since I stopped playing, this role brings you closer to the action and you are involved gathering information from every team within the club. It involves travelling to all the matches and reporting on what happened.

‘You end up experiencing the thrill of victory and the disappointment of losing with each of those teams. It is the next best thing to playing, to be honest.’

Living in Dunmanway with husband Troy and their two daughters Megan (12) and Ellie (8), she was fortunate to report on many Dohenys successes at both adult and minor level in recent years. One of Mawe’s most important match reports included the 2019 Cork LGFA county junior B final. Dohenys ended a run of three consecutive county final defeats and overcame Midleton to lift the title.

‘Oh my goodness, they kept me busy,’ the Dohenys club stalwart admits.

‘I travelled to as many matches as possible and mentioned every player because I believe they deserve recognition for their efforts. I did my best to highlight each game and put up images and reports as soon as I could.

‘Social media is huge in that regard. People want instant results and will go to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or whatever social media platform they use to get that information. Relaying that information to people is the most important thing as a PRO. Making your reports visual by integrating video and images is vitally important too which is why social media has never been more important.

‘I was also heavily involved in Dohenys’ successful 2019 Sam Maguire 7s tournaments. That was something new but required a lot of work in terms of promotion and getting the local community involved. Hard work, yes, but it proved a fantastic venture.’

Mawe’s experience and passion for ladies football will be put to good use in her new role. The West Cork LGFA continues to grow in popularity so there will be plenty of coverage required when on-field action resumes. The good news for new PRO is that she will be engaging with a receptive audience.

‘West Cork ladies football clubs have been very good at reporting on their matches,’ Mawe says.

‘I’m hoping that continues and that they will engage with me to make my job a small bit easier. As much as I would love to, I won’t be able to attend every match so I’ll be depending on the clubs to provide the raw material. As PRO, I will help all the West Cork clubs in whatever way I can.

‘There is so much footballing talent in West Cork so every club needs to promote their players. We are there as a platform to help the clubs do just that. We want to see as many West Cork players as possible pushing to get on to Cork panels in the years ahead.’

An explosion in interest has come at a time the Cork LGFA seniors are challenging for All-Ireland honours and at underage level as well. Mawe has witnessed first-hand the positive impact of having an inter-county player like Melissa Duggan within her own club.

‘I have seen how all the younger girls in Dohenys look up to Melissa,’ the new West Cork PRO added.

‘They all want to be like her and get excited anytime she trains with the Dohenys panel in Dunmanway. That’s why I always send out information about when Cork are playing and to be sure to watch Melissa in action.’

Mawe takes over her new West Cork position following previous incumbent Brian Cotter’s decision to accept the chairperson’s role.

‘I know Brian did a fantastic job linking all the clubs’ information together as did Martina Burns before him in helping get our website up and running,’ Mawe says.

‘I just want to continue to add to the great work that was done by the people before me. This is a new challenge but I am really looking forward to it.’

Mawe’s refreshing take on her role comes at a time GAA committees are struggling to get new female administrators involved. West Cork LGFA will benefit from the Dohenys club member’s enthusiasm and experience.