Dublin star Carla Rowe's inspiring day job, sporting career and injury struggles

Irish Daily Mirror

a day ago

Carla Rowe has been a central figure on the Dublin panel for over a decade.
What many might not know is that she came to Gaelic football later than most, having first been involved in gymnastics.
It was only after a significant life change that she decided to try something new, and discovered her passion for football. Sporting career
Carla started playing Gaelic football when she moved from Lusk to Naul in County Dublin when she was 13 years old.
Before the move her focus was on gymnastics.
Over the following years, she made a huge impact on the sport and went on to make her senior debut for Dublin in 2014 in a match against Kildare. Day job
When she's not busy on the pitch, Carla works as a biology and science teacher at Balbriggan Community College.
She completed her undergraduate degree in Health and Physical Activity at Dundalk Institute of Technology and went on to get her professional masters in Education for Post Primary Teaching at DCU.
She shared that her students tend to ask her all sorts of questions about her sporting career, from if she gets paid to why she's teaching if she plays for Dublin.
'It's funny that something like football in the classroom can really help. It makes it relatable for students. They're interested in you a bit more than just you as their teacher for science,' she told Evoke.
'They think you should be getting paid like a soccer player which is nice. It's good to build a relationship with students in that way'.
She explained that some students ' have no clue that it's kind of an amateur sport and you go to training four nights a week and you don't get paid for it'.
Carla also shared that during her off-time, like during the summer months, she puts her focus into football.
'That's the pros to being a teacher. It's full focus on football, this is the important time of the season and my career allows me to give all I can to it,' she told the Irish Independent.
'It would be neglectful of me not to put as much time and effort into it as I can. I'll be enjoying some nice recovery sessions and extra massages and all the extra bits I can do to help my performance.' Injury
During last year's All-Ireland quarter-finals, Dublin lost with Carla on the bench after sustaining a calf injury.
Reflecting on that difficult period, she told Off The Ball: 'It took me a good while to deal with it. I was probably pretty angry. Obviously, you lose and that's a part of sports.
'When you're on the pitch, you think you can control it and play a part, but I was pretty frustrated and angry at my body and my calf for letting me down on that day. 'Why couldn't it have happened on a different day?', 'Maybe I should have played,' - all these things cross your mind.
'Look, it's a part of sports and I just have to use it as motivation this year to be as right and as strong as possible to make sure that that doesn't happen or it happens at least as possible.'