Trinity student Sadhbh Doyle has been nominated for Under-19 women’s International Player of the Year in the Football Association of Ireland’s (FAI) International Awards.
Doyle, who plays with Trinity Women’s Soccer, is a dentistry student, and was chosen as one of Trinity’s 40 sports scholars in the 2019/20 academic year.
Speaking to Trinity News, Doyle said that she found out about her nomination for the award through a message of congratulations from a friend.
“It was quite funny because I had no idea what she was on about at first!” Doyle said.
“Even though the qualifiers and elites tournaments we played in seem like a lifetime ago, it’s nice to think that all the hard work and effort you have put in throughout the years is recognised in some way,” she said.
“We had a great group of girls on the team last year and we came close to qualifying for the European finals, so to be nominated from that group is an honour for me.”
The annual FAI International awards celebrates players’ performances in the previous international season.
Its categories include International Player of the Year for men’s and women’s teams in different age groups, SSE Airtricity League Player of the Year, and a colleges and universities International Player of the Year.
Dean Kelly of Institute of Technology Carlow (IT Carlow), Maurice Nugent of the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway), and Rob Slevin of University College Cork (UCC) have been nominated in the colleges and universities category.
Doyle told Trinity News that she is “really looking forward to getting back into playing matches in the Women’s National League”.
“We have had about 3 preseasons because of Covid-19, so it has been mentally challenging for everyone to try and keep motivated for so long.”
Doyle, who attended NUI Galway for a year before coming to Trinity, has moved from Galway Women’s Football Club to Peamount United Football Club in Dublin, which she said she is “really enjoying so far”.
“They are the current league champions so there’s great competition in the squad which I’m really enjoying. It also means that we will be going to the Champions league in October, so that is something I’m really looking forward to. It will be really exciting to test ourselves against some of the best teams in Europe.”
Trinity Sport shared its congratulations for Doyle on social media, writing: “Congrats to Trinity Sport Scholarship student Sadhbh Doyle who has been shortlisted for the @FAIreland Under-19 Women’s International Player of the Year.”
Doyle is nominated in her category alongside Megan Mackey and Roisin McGovern.
The awards ceremony was postponed earlier in the year due to Covid-19 and is not taking place due to social distancing restrictions.
The winners in each category are due to be announced next week.
