Winning the All-Ireland the highlight of every sporting year for Elise Bruen

TG4 LGFA Team of the Intermediate Championship member Elise Bruen may be in Australia but the Leitrim Ladies star kindly took time out to look back over 2024 and no prizes for guessing what features strongly in her highs and lows of the sporting year!

HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR

Has to be winning the All Ireland, I think that’ll be the sporting highlight of every year!

LOWLIGHT OF THE YEAR 

Losing the league semi-final, that was a hard pill to swallow at the time

PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

I’m very aware that I could use members of our team for every answer here, so I’ll choose someone else for this answer. I’ve really enjoyed following Sharlene Mawdsley this year and seeing her achieve success.

Sharlene Mawdsley and Ireland cross the line in fourth place in Paris in the Women’s 4 x 400m final Picture: Sam Barnes Sportsfile

She’s been a high performing athlete for so many years now but I feel like she’s finally getting recognition for it. Watching her interview after the women’s 4x400m Olympic final was so heartbreaking, and it really stuck with me, mostly because it was so relatable to anyone who has ever played a team sport.

TEAM OF THE YEAR

An easy one – Leitrim Ladies. The team here definitely needs to include management however, because we owe the success to them and all they did for us!

SPORTS REVIEW OF THE YEAR: WILLIE DONNELLAN LOOKS BACK ON 2024

HERO OF THE YEAR

Ailbhe Clancy – anyone that was in the dressing room in Cloone the Wednesday after the League semi final can back me up on this one. She believed in all of us as a team when none of us did, and to see her give the performance of her life in Croke Park and win player of the match was inspiring. She is also incredibly modest – if I had the left boot she has, I don’t think I’d be as humble!

PERSON THAT MADE YOU GO WOW IN 2024 

Jim McGuinness and Donegal. The change in that team over the last year is crazy, and it just shows how influential management are on a team’s success. I personally can’t wait to watch Donegal in action next year, and I think it could be a repeat of 2012! 

ONE THING I’D DO TO MAKE SPORT BETTER IN 2025 

I think the new rules coming into men’s football will help the sport massively, it has gotten very boring to watch the last few years. On the ladies football side, I think more consistency in referees when it comes to the contact level of the sport – you could spend a whole pre match meeting studying what the referee will/won’t allow and it can really affect the game. 

WHAT ARE THE BIG CHALLENGES FACING LEITRIM SPORT IN 2025?

I think a big challenge facing Leitrim sport will be the rising number of young people emigrating. You can already see the effect it’s having on teams at club level with the 25-30 year old contingent noticeably missing. That being said, it creates great opportunities for younger people to really make their mark on the team and step up to the responsibility. It’ll be an interesting year.

Elise Bruen celebrates in Croke Park with Leitrim LGFA chairperson Kathy Butler last August Picture: Willie Donnellan

ONE TO WATCH IN 2025 

Sarah Reynolds. I may be biased but she’s one of the best footballers I’ve ever seen and she’s only 20! I can’t wait to see what she does in 2025 (maybe up that scoring tally but I’m not one to talk!)