Long Read: Meath GAA's Vikki Wall - 'The routine is different - I try to keep things as normal as I can during such uncertain times'

Second in the table, confidence soaring throughout the team and looking forward to testing themselves against league leaders Kerry in the penultimate round before the grandstand possibility of a National League final.

With record numbers turning out to county trials at the start of the year and the team edging closer and closer each week to the hallowed turf of Division One, there are an awful lot of positives to be attached to the Meath Ladies football team at present.

Unfortunately, with the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the worldwide disruption to the sporting calendar, the remainder of the National League has been cancelled by the LGFA and a call has yet to be made on this year's Championship campaign.

While there is huge disappointment among the team that they won't get to finish out the league, Vikki insists both herself and all of her team mates remain hugely confident in the team’s abilities when action does resume.

She feels that, with the talent that the team possess, the upward trajectory in terms of progress will continue.

"Our first priority at the start of the year was to just secure our status in Division Two without a doubt," Wall told extratime.ie.

"As the games go by then you to start to think of the possibility of reaching the Division Two final. We just came up to Division Two this year and before all of this happened.

“All of a sudden we were sitting nicely in second place in the table with just two games to go. We were really getting into our groove when all of this happened and the remainder of the league was cancelled.

“It's really disappointing but, taking the positives from the situation, I really do believe the best is yet to come from this group of girls.

“In the last few weeks we have been building nicely in both our performance levels and also more importantly in seeing out games and getting the results that had us sitting in second place.

"The structure changed slightly this year in that there were to be no semi-finals, it was just the top two league finishers who take their place in the league final.

“That in itself was an added motivation for us to be as sharp as we possibly could because we knew we needed to take the most out of every single game.

"I personally thought promotion was a definite possibilty for us. I just have such faith and belief in this team and I can see in training how talented this group of girls are.

"I think the last match against Armagh was one of the best performances we've had to date so we were starting to find form and confidence at the best possible time.

“We were looking forward to testing ourselves against Wexford and also against Kerry who were leading the division but everything has been cancelled for the foreseeable future anyway.”

Buzz

Dunboyne native Wall first graced the inter county stage in 2015 at the time when the management team struggled to get enough numbers at training to put on a full session.

A few weeks prior to the start of this year's league campaign, record numbers turned out at trials for the county team with the support off the field on a steady upward curve as well.

"We have a real healthy and effective blend of youth with experience at the moment throughout the team.

“The average age roughly is about 22, 23, but the experience we do have on the team and the girls who are that bit older each have that wealth of experience and knowledge which the younger girls are thriving off just now.

“There is a real buzz around the team and this year at the start of season trials we saw huge numbers turn out, more than anyone has ever seen including management, so it's catching on and people want to be involved in the exciting journey we are on just now.

“When I first became involved in the county panel in 2015, the management were almost begging people to come down and get involved.

“We barely had 20 some weeks at training and now at every single training session, meet up, match we have a full squad and more without fail."

The cancellation and decimation of sporting fixtures has resulted in Meath's mighty momentum grinding to a halt all of a sudden.

With the current social distancing guidelines that are currently in place, their team training and preparation, like hundreds of teams across the country, has also halted indefinitely.

While they may not be able to train together or carry out any of their team bonding sessions they have all got so used to and enjoy so much, they are still all training individually and keeping in touch with the aim of keeping the team spirit and feel good factor in tact.

"We are all keeping in contact through Whatsapp and on the phone as well which is great despite not being able to meet up for matches or training as we usually would every week.

“Everyone of us on the team enjoy training and our meet ups for matches so much and it's a huge part of all of our lives so now that it's gone, you would miss it a lot.

"Everyone is doing a skills challenge every week and as well as maintaining the competitive edge in us all each week. It's also great fun and keeping the spirits and the morale of the team high. 7

“After Friday's webinar actually a few of the girls sang Demi Lovato's This is Me from Camp Rock so that was some craic and a great way to end the week.

"Keeping in contact for online chats as a team and talking on the phone is important too, I think, to try and maintain the belief and togetherness that we had worked so hard to form and establish so far in this year's league and throughout the last few seasons as well.

"We are trying to keep our individual training and our gym/home workouts to the exact same time and days that we would normally have it so that we can benefit from controlling what we can control and minimise the disruption and impact as much as we can.

“I've got some gym equipment here myself and a few bikes as well so I can train away for the moment.”

Family connection

The Dunboyne full forward may be having to isolate from the team, but not quite completely as her younger sister Sarah has followed her footballing footsteps very closely in recent years.

“I'm lucky enough to have Sarah [my sister] here as well and we can actually motivate each other with the training we are doing."

"We are on the Dunboyne team, the DCU college football team and the county team together and we bounce things off each other all the time.

“Once we get home after a game we are chatting about right decisions we took or didn't take, wrong decisions in a split second in a game, good or bad performances by either of us and even just on a more simple level the craic and camaraderie we have with the team.

"It's nice to have my sister to enjoy that with as well as with so many great teammates. For me it definetely makes it that bit more special.

"We do try and I think it's important as well to get that break from football completely when we are at home or if we are just having dinner for example.

“Charlotte, our older sister doesn't play football so we've tried to ban ourselves from talking about it over dinner and try our best to remember that too. It doesn't always work but we do try!

"I also really miss the full squad in general, it's great when we all get together and the intensity of the training does be huge.

“This year again, like last year, with where we have got to now, it's another step up from what we are used to and incredibly competitive.

"We all want to be on the team and play our part in what we are doing and it shows in training and on the field in matches.

“It's hard to train towards a goal that is uncertain and the uncertainty has everyone a bit uneasy at the moment.

"One of the things I actually miss most is the journey to training before a football is even kicked. The Dunboyne girls all travel together and we always have a full car or sometimes even two cars. 

"That catch up for a few hours every week with the girls from Dunboyne is a really nice thing we have and we all enjoy it.

“It's so nice having my sister and so many Dunboyne club mates and friends on the team. We are always together on the field and off the field quite a bit too and it's such a nice feeling having that closeness and togetherness as a group.”

Routine

The team training and chance to hone their skills may have been taken away for the moment but Vikki also spoke about the importance of trying to maintain a normal routine in terms of eating, sleeping and exercising to try and minimise the disruption in her daily routine despite being restricted to the house so much.

"It's strange when we have such a busy house at home here for all of us to be here full time, essentially.

“I'm sure the patience will be tested in the next few weeks but in the grand scheme of things I'm keeping well.

"I'm on a placement at the moment for the year in an accounting firm, we are very well set up to be working from home so the main disruption or difference to my usual routine is actually working from home but we are well set up to allow that to happen fairly smoothly.

“Trying to keep myself in a strict routine is something that is different when you are working from home and it's important to stay as disciplined as you can.

“Even just the simple things like getting up at the same time each day and getting dressed for work, keeping things as normal as I can during such uncertain times.

"We all have our own home offices set up and divided around the house. Sarah is upstairs doing online lectures and trying to keep busy as well.

“There have been a few small issues that have naturally arisen when we are all trying to do our work in such a close proximity, but nothing we haven't been able to work out."

Overcoming obstacles

This Meath team's exciting journey may have had a pause called on their game for the time being but overcoming setbacks and obstacles is something that this team are used to at this stage.

Coming back stronger from these setbacks is something they have been hailed for in equal measure: having been crowned Leinster Champions against Wexford in 2017 they went as far as the All - Ireland semi-final only to be defeated by Tipperary.

In 2018, they went one better and reached All-Ireland final day in Croke Park only to suffer an agonising defeat  to Tyrone and fall at the final hurdle.

To their immense credit, this loss seems to have only made them stronger and no team wants to play against Meath Ladies at the moment.

"2017 was a huge year for us in terms of our progress as a team, realising our potential as well with all of the hard work we had put in.

“Although we lost the All-Ireland semi-final, we have improved so much since then and the learnings and lessons we took from that game and the All-Ireland final loss in 2018 have been invaluable and stand to us to this day.

"Earlier that year, winning the Leinster final against Wexford was the start of it all, It had been a good few years since the Meath Ladies, or we as a team, had won anything in terms of silverware.

“We knew we had the talent, the skill, the behaviours and the will to win that all successful teams had but getting over the line that day and winning the Leinster final capped it all off.

"Despite eventually losing later that year against Tipperary the Leinster final win against Wexford lit a fire in us.

“Everyone on the team from then on knew the standard we had set ourselves that day and have strived to achieve it every day since. For where we were at as a team it was exactly what we needed.

"I think the win against Armagh more recently last month was huge, a tough game against another senior team.

“Although there are some really good intermediate teams in Division Two there are also senior teams and to have beaten a few of them in the league is such a confidence booster.

"The win against Tyrone at the start of the league against the team that had beaten us in the All - Ireland final as well was so important and of huge significance.

“Especially for the management and the girls on the team who had been involved when we lost the All-Ireland to them in 2018.

“There has been such an improvement right across the team since then and mentally, across the board for the management and the team who played that day and the newer panelists it was huge.

"Again, It was one of those turning points as a team and a real milestone in terms of assessing where we are at, the potential in this team and reassurance for us in terms of belief, confidence and drive to continue improving game in, game out.”

Since then, the team have dusted themselves down, learnt from their mistakes and with a combination of character, team spirit and endless amounts of hard work have got themselves back to where they belong: winning games and testing themselves against the top teams in the country.