New LGFA coach Ciaran Smith sees the 'huge potential' in Donegal

Ciaran Smith is the newest member of the Donegal LGFA senior backroom team. The Erne Gaels clubman has a very impressive CV and was approached by Donegal manager Maxi Curran and is most impressed with the absolute professional set-up in the county.

Curran saw Smith at first hand have a very successful season in training Aodh Ruadh to a memorable double by taking the Donegal LGFA IFC crown and the Division 2 title. It was a very busy year for the 42-year-old, as he also coached his home club Erne Gaels to their first Fermanagh SFL title since 1996 and the SFC final where they were beaten by Enniskillen Gaels. 

The Belleek club only lost two games all year and he also coached them to a Fermanagh IFC title in 2021. So, when the offer came in from Curran, Smith, who is employed as a PE Teacher in Loughan House, Blacklion, jumped at the opportunity. In 2022, Donegal reached the Division 1 final for the for the second time and the All-Ireland SFC semi-final - also for the second- losing both to eventual double winners Meath on two-point margins. 

“Donegal were so close against Meath in the All-Ireland semi-final and they could have got over the line, but the positive thing is just how close they were,” Smith added. “So, over the next weeks and months we will be trying to figure out what it is that needs to be put in to get them over the line and am really looking forward to that. It is still a learning curve for me as I have only just met the girls recently. 

“There are a lot of leaders in that team already, strong characters who are highly motivated and looking at Maxi and the management team”.

Smith too has always been a leader both on and off the field with Erne Gaels and he is also a former Northern Ireland international at U-16 and U-18 and a Milk Cup player with Fermanagh. 

But GAA was in the genes too as his father Conor was a PE teacher in Loreto Convent in Coleraine and played football and hurling for Antrim, so it is very much a genetic thing.

Ciaran Smith captained a star-studded St Michael’s Enniskillen to a MacRory Cup title in the first live televised final when they beat St Colman’s of Newry in Casement Park in 1999 in a team that included future All-Stars like Barry Owens and Marty McGrath. 

“I was always used to being made captain in school and college and I love that side of things,” Smith added. “I love the leadership role and I liked to advance in that and that Is why I studied PE at John Moores University in Liverpool for four years.”

Smith has completed Strength and Conditioning exams and has now finished a two-year Masters in Performance Coaching. 

“I did that because I wanted to get down into the nitty gritty of all the different aspects of coaching and not just the physical side of things but the mental preparation and the background stuff that not many people see that goes on in teams,” he added. “That is a massive part of team sports these days, but it does not get noticed as the physical preparation is at the forefront.

“You really learn when you have 30 boys or girls standing in front of you, all different levels and all different attitudes so it is about how to manage all that and keep a good team spirit and get real positive energy into the group and it’s a different story”. 

“The first major coaching thing I did was in my own club Erne Gaels and my goal was to get everybody on board and all working together, and we are all the same - including management. 

His first involvement with ladies football came last January when he was approached by Aodh Ruadh manager Paul Gillespie and player Sara Gallagher. 

“I said yes and when I met up with them in January I knew there was something about that group of girls and they had great potential there, so I threw myself at that as well,” Smith said. “It was hard to juggle the two roles with Erne Gaels as well, but it paid off and Aodh Ruadh got the double. 

“Physical fitness is important, but you need conditioning as well and the mental side of self- belief is very important too and we won every game. I was delighted as I love watching ladies football. It is a different kind of game, and it is more free-flowing than the men’s game. 

“At the end of the season I had a number of offers from various sources including another county and then I got a call from Maxi to have a chat and that then turned into an offer, and I am delighted to take it up."

Smith will step into a set-up that lost Mark McHugh to Roscommon in recent weeks, although one that ended the year on a high with captain Niamh McLaughlin named as the TG4 LGFA Players’ Player of the Year.

“Maxi contacted me about four weeks ago and it was a wee chat over the phone about how I found ladies football and what was the difference between it and the men and how did I feel about working with the girls," Smith added.

“And then I went up for a meeting and a week later I got an offer to see if I would like to do it full time so obviously it was too good of an opportunity to pass. It was somewhere I always wanted to go, to work that little bit higher and I am really looking forward to it and there is so much potential in this team.”