Picture the scene! It is a bright but breezy August evening. The Moynalvey dressing rooms are a hive of activity. Inside the smell of musty sweat from years past fills the air as the footballers pull on their socks and slip into their muddy boots. Most talk, some joke and a few prepare quietly. Others bounce the polished white O'Neill's football on the ground or off the wall in front of them. One player has forgotten to bring their gloves and randomly asks around to find out if somebody has a spare pair. With no joy the player then pesters the closest person to see if they can borrow a single glove at least. There is not an unoccupied splinter on the wooden benches. In total there are between 45 and 50 players present. And this is just training. However this is Moynalvey ladies football training, and after two years in existence, they continue to get stronger. But the reason all of these girls are training is because of one man, Kevin Dowling. It was he who committed himself to form a ladies football team in Moynalvey back in 2000 and his dedication has been matched by that of the girls. "We have under-12, under-14 and under-16 teams here in the club and with an under-10 league starting up next year we should also have a side in that. We hope to have a junior team next year as well and are building towards that," admits Kevin. Having lived in England for many years he returned home ten years ago and settled back in Moynalvey. While over in London he played football for The Kingdom, but jokes that he never held down a solid position on the team. "I never really played anywhere. I just went wherever they wanted me to play. I could have been playing in any position at all," he laughs. But on his return to Moynalvey Kevin got involved in ladies football because of his two daughters, Ciara (13) and Eilis (11). The girls played for the national school team in the Cumann na mBunscol and enjoyed two successful years in 1999 and 2000. However once girls in Moynalvey left primary school there were not really any opportunities for them, or their friends, to play football in the area. Having witnessed at first hand the commitment and desire the girls had to play football, Kevin decided to put the idea forward to the Moynalvey committee. "The committee were a great help and supported us from word go. We are all very grateful to the people involved with Moynalvey and know we couldn't have achieved it without them. Although we are all the one club, financially we stand-alone and have received great support from the community and fantastic sponsorship from Phil Brady, which allowed us to get a set of jerseys. But if we are ever stuck financially or in any other way the club are more than willing to help us out which is brilliant." Kevin also admits that he has been lucky to have such good people working with him over the last two years. "Jay Geraghty and Una Loughrey in particular have been fantastic and it is because of them that nearly 50 or so girls turn up for training." Among his other loves is boxing and he and his four brothers have been involved in the sport for many years. "My dad's side of the family are from Kilkenny originally and we have always been a big boxing family down through the years, with the likes of Mick Dowling and so on," he states. For now though his time is precious and much of it is spent diligently working away with the ladies football. In the short space of time they have been around, the Moynalvey ladies have already made an impact on the game in the county. "We went all the way to the under-16 'B' shield final this year and the under-14 shield final last year so things are coming along well. We have also had a number of girls playing with Meath underage teams and that is great for the club. My own daughter Ciara played with the Meath under-12's and Tara Smith and Celine Harnan, daughter of former Meath player Liam, played with the under-16's. Such was the high level of interest in football from the girls in the area after they finished primary school that we wanted to keep it going and so far so good." He also believes that the commitment the girls put into the game is quite extraordinary and that the quality of ladies football can be as good as the men's game. "It is very encouraging for us to see a huge turnout for both training and the games. We have a bunch of smashing girls here and they really love to play football. It is great to see all the youngsters out playing and getting involved with sport. We really have a huge amount of girls from the parish playing and that is great the future if we can hold onto them. In fact even the current chairman and treasurer have daughters playing for us so the whole club are really involved. "The ladies game is all about skill. I mean I don't think there is any place for the physical side of football in the ladies game. It is more like basketball really, suited to skill rather than pushing and shoving. And there really are some fine female footballers around the country," he points out. There are positive signs that the ladies game is beginning to grow in stature and this year's All-Ireland final between Mayo and Monaghan attracted a large crowd of 20,000 plus spectators. However the friendly Kevin is all too aware of the problems still facing the ladies game in the country, and hopes that the GAA can build up the profile of the sport in the coming years. "The game is not marketed at all really and that is a pity. We need to start getting the numbers attending ladies games and in Meath we need games fixed properly. Last year before we played the under-14 shield final we made up some posters and put them around the area to try and get a good crowd to come and cheer us on. But two days before the game was due to take place we were told it had been switched from Simonstown to Bective. So we had to go around and change the venue on the posters and then at the last minute it was switched again and eventually took place here in Moynalvey. "I mean it didn't look great, with us going around changing the posters all the time, and that could easily deter people from coming to the games. However if I have to say one thing it is that the community here have been tremendous. A big crowd turned up for that final and that encourages more girls to get involved and thus raises the profile and standard of the game. But we really have appreciated the support from the community over the past two years and they have been the backbone of our teams because if nobody took an interest the game would dry up so we are thankful to the locals for their support." And it really is a family affair as not only do both Kevin's daughters play but also his wife is involved with helping the game progress, by sending reports of their games to the local Meath newspapers. The club have also organised various trips away for the girls this year and Kevin says, "there was no trouble from anybody." One of those trips saw the girls attend the aforementioned ladies All-Ireland final in Croke Park. The atmosphere, according to Kevin "was probably better and more enjoyable than the Kerry against Armagh game which I also attended." And as for the future he has two ambitions for Moynalvey ladies football. "I would love to see us win a county title here in the club. That would be fantastic for everybody involved. I would also love to bring a bus load of the girls up to see one of our own players playing for the Meath ladies in Croke Park. That would show that we were on the right track." With Kevin around Moynalvey are already on the right track. He will not admit it but he is quite a remarkable man. Working in the face of adversity, going against the grain. In years to come ladies football will certainly have gained more media coverage and enjoy a higher standing within the GAA, and it will all be because of men like Kevin Dowling. In addition Moynalvey will probably have won a county title and some of their players will have represented Meath in Croke Park. Kevin will be there in attendance of course, with a busload of future Moynalvey ladies stars, and only then will he have realised the magnitude of what he has achieved. But for now though, it is back to evening training, polished O'Neill's footballs, and crowded Moynalvey dressing rooms. Tweet

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