Landers enjoying life behind enemy lines
By Daragh Ó Conchúir
A confluence of events and changing circumstances have seen former Waterford camogie stalwart, Aoife Landers switch club allegiances and she is relishing the experience.
The former An Rinn defender/midfielder is enjoying being involved at the sharp end of things across the Suir/Nore divide in Kilkenny, and has certainly made her presence felt since joining Piltown.
A PE and Irish teacher at the renowned camogie nursery of Loreto Secondary School in the Marble City, Landers spent her formative years with An Rinn, as she grew up in football country in Kilbrien, near Colligan, and after playing underage hurling with the boys, there was no adult club to go to.
She helped the Gaeltacht outfit progress through the ranks, and was a youngster as they lost by two points to Truagh-Clonlara (Clare) in the Munster junior final in November 2012. They fell by four points to the incredible Clanmaurice (Kerry) outfit that was winning a fifth consecutive title, in the decider in January 2022.
Over time, the travel to Kilkenny began to tell. As well as that, she was not getting enough minutes on the pitch for Waterford. And An Rinn were heading into a transitional phase – they have an exciting crop of young players coming through, she notes now. But Landers felt her game was regressing from lack of games and that she needed to be playing regularly.
“This is my sixth or seventh year in Kilkenny and I moved up to live here after my first year, just to try make things easier with work. But it was still a lot of travelling for camogie. I remember then, when I was moving first, the two things that I said to my own gang at home was, I only wanted two things, and that was numbers and a good standard. Anything after that was a complete bonus.
“I stepped away from Waterford last year. I just kind of wanted a break. But because the standard was so high club-wise, I knew that I would still have numbers at training and really good, high-quality challenge games. In Kilkenny, there’s no football as competition, so most teams are fielding nearly two teams. So the standard is extremely high and you’re not breaking for football. It’s camogie training and matches every week.
“I just wanted to go back to playing. I knew, I’ve a few years left playing. It’ll probably be the last place I play, if you get me, it’s not as if I’m just starting out.
“Don McMahon had brought me into the Waterford panel in 2016, the year after they had won the intermediate All-Ireland. It was our first year up senior and we had a few tough years grinding away for a while. And we gradually started winning more and got to the All-Ireland final.
“But the last two years I was with them, I wasn’t really seeing much time… You’d be sitting on the bench maybe on a Saturday and then doing vision analysis on Sunday. So that’s two days gone, not playing and you end up going backwards. So I decided to take a step away. I’m not closing the door forever. I don’t know what the next few years hold. But when you don’t have it in your heart to go again, you have to do something different.”
After the limbo of being an intercounty squad player, being with Piltown, and the single code emphasis in Kilkenny, has infused Landers with energy once more.
“I couldn’t speak highly enough of Piltown. I made the decision to go half-way down the road as I wanted to keep my hobbies separate to my teaching and the girls have been great.
“I would have played against the Doyles (Kellyann and Aoife) and of course Katie Power, Aoife Norris, but to see them with the club, they all have incredible standards. They always drive it on. After the first few weeks when you’re putting on the same jersey, you just become one of them. You’re all on the same quest.
“They have such a good structure here, we were back in January. Whereas in Waterford, you’re probably not going back to maybe mid-February, because your championship is so far away or you have so many involved with the county. Whereas in Kilkenny, you have maybe 20 girls that aren’t even involved in an intercounty squad. It’s very easy to continue training.”
Not that Landers is against dual codes, or football specifically. The year Waterford won that intermediate All-Ireland, she was on the ladies’ football squad that made it a Déise double in the same grade, having played in the final against Armagh in 2012. Indeed she still returns home to play the odd club game with St Pat’s. But there was always one grá, despite hurling and camogie not being common in her neck of the woods.
“I think it came naturally. We actually played a load of handball when we were in primary school. We used to go in and play in the Friary (St Augustine’s Secondary School, Dungarvan) maybe once a week. And I think for eye-hand coordination, it really helps. So I found my hurling kind of natural. I didn’t have to work on my striking maybe as much as other people, or my touch as much as other people. I had to work on plenty other elements alright!
“I just love to play camogie and I’d say we’re all the same. You just want to play. I know it’s only sports at the end of the day, but you have to make hay when the sun shines and the match is the most enjoyable part of it all.”
Piltown won the League this year and reached the chamionship final but 2023 All-Ireland champions and current Leinster totems, Dicksboro prevailed by five points.
“The standard is really high up here. There’s four teams that you couldn’t really call it on any given day. If you’re a small bit off, like you could be beaten. The ‘Boro have set the standard up here, and nationwide. Respect is earned and they earned it when they won the All-Ireland, so now in Kilkenny, everyone else is playing catch-up.
“I think we did perform in the county final, but we didn’t maybe take our chances. We missed two chances that on another day could have went in, and they got a kind of a fortunate goal. But they took the chance and that was the difference on the day.
“It’s still a bit raw to be thinking about next year but we will regather ourselves and give it another shot.”
Kilkenny are certainly moving in the right direction, helped by Loreto’s slew of All-Irelands at senior and junior level. Landers does a bit of coaching with the first and second years and so knows the talent that is there. It is replicated in the black and amber, with the U16 and minor success of recent times.
The 31-year-old likes how the work at underage level is paying dividends in her own county too.
“I’m from the same sort of group as Lorraine Bray, Niamh Rockett and Lorraine Bray, but you need the players coming through and thankfully in Waterford, we have that. After getting to the final, we’re gone back a bit maybe to getting to a semi-final and quarter-final, but when you have made such progress to close the gap, that last step is the hardest. But they’re not far away, I don’t think.”
Whether she will don the county geansaí again, she doesn’t know, but Aoife Landers is loving her camogie again.
And that’s the most important thing.
By Ed Donnelly Fri 6th Nov
