CHARLENE TYRRELL has hit the snooze button on her retirement — because she is still living the dream.
The Leitrim defender and DFI Beds ambassador tossed and turned over her future during the winter break.
But after a rest, the prospect of playing TG4 All-Ireland senior football has left her feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
Tyrrell made her debut in 2003 and started in the final when her county won an intermediate crown four years later.
But circumstances dictated that she did not get a taste of senior action and she would spend nearly a decade away from the game before a 2020 comeback.
In August, she was once more a titan at the back as Jonny Garrity’s Leitrim triumphed in another intermediate final — this time against Tyrone — at the age of 38.
Tyrrell said: “There was a period after all the celebrations and everything had settled down, and I sort of enjoyed not having anything to do.
“I had considered, ‘God, will I go back?’ but once I got back to training, the desire is there and the love is there.
“Mainly to get out of Division 4, first and foremost, but really excited to play senior Championship this year.
“It will be one competition at a time, but really excited to be playing against some of the best teams in the country and see how we fare.
“I haven’t played senior Championship with Leitrim, so it will be really exciting.
“We’re not in the senior Championship to just make up the numbers. We intend to compete and be serious competitors.
“Hopefully we can establish ourselves as a senior team and stay up in the senior ranks.
“By the time I retire, hopefully I’ll be leaving Leitrim in a better place. Leaving a nice little legacy behind.”
When Leitrim lost to Limerick in a Lidl NFL Division 4 semi-final back in March of last year, Tyrrell found herself coming up against Róisín Ambrose.
Fast-forward ten months and she is joining forces with the Treaty joint-captain — after the pair were lined up as ambassadors for the LGFA’s new sleep partner.
She grinned: “I actually wasn’t entirely sure what I was saying yes to! It’s great to be involved and represent Leitrim.
“It’s great coverage for us as well. It’s lovely to be involved and to be asked.
“I’ve only ever met Róisín on the pitch. I never met her off the field, so it’s lovely.
“That’s what football is all about too. It’s not just about playing on the field but it’s about making friends outside the football side of things and outside the county.
“It’s lovely, she’s a great girl. We had good fun now doing some of the photographs that you’ll see appear!”
WELCOME SUPPORT
Tyrrell, a sports therapist by day, has been kept busy in recent months with her role as a mental health facilitator for the Movember Ahead of the Game campaign that is jointly run by the GPA, GAA and Movember.
Given she has spoken so openly about her own personal struggles in the past, Tyrrell was delighted to get involved.
The Leitrim ace said: “I just go around to the clubs around Connacht, delivering mental health workshops to underage teams and parents and coaches as well.
“I only started that in September, so that’s lovely. I love doing that.
“It’s definitely something I wish I had when I was younger, because it wasn’t until I was in my early 20s and had my son [Noah] that I suffered myself with postnatal depression.
“Didn’t know even what it was at that age when it came on me.
“To give the kids the understanding of the signs and symptoms, and to reach out and to talk . . . I think it’s something that we get great feedback from the players and the coaches, that they’ve a better understanding that your mental health is your health.
“It’s not two separate things, your mental health and your physical health, it’s all one. It is vitally important.”
Leitrim lost their Division 4 opener to Fermanagh and need a top-four finish to reach the knockout round.
They face Derry at Kiltubrid tomorrow, with both sides determined to clinch a spot in the final and claim automatic promotion.
Tyrrell added: “Last year was completely heartbreaking. That will haunt me forever.
“Ourselves and Fermanagh flew through the group stages and topped the group.
“I’m not sure if a little bit of complacency set in, so we’re definitely a lot more focused this year.”
LEITRIM’S Charlene Tyrell was speaking as DFI Beds were announced as ‘Official Sleep Partner of the LGFA’.
