Bonagee star Catherine Grier taking busy schedule in her stride 

If Catherine Grier could bottle and distribute the enthusiasm and fun she brings to proceedings at Bonagee United, it wouldn’t take long for it to become the top selling sports drink on the market. 

The Ramelton woman has overcome the challenges presented by being deaf to become one of the best centre halves in the country. And she will also be part of the Irish International squad that heads for Brazil in November for the World Deaf Futsal Championships. 

Grier is also an agricultural graduate and her life revolves around her work at home on the farm and her busy sporting schedule with both Bonagee and Ireland. 

That kind of workload would, for most, mean something would just have to eventually give. But Grier really does take it all in her stride and, no doubt smiling along the way. She’s always smiling!   

“It’s crazy right now,” she said on her weekly routine.  “I’ve a lot of involvement in the agricultural side of things as well. Mondays consist of league games, Tuesday will be showing cattle and handling calves. 

“Wednesday and Thursday is more training, Friday and Saturday is cattle again! Every second Sunday I’m down in Dublin with the Irish team. At least I don’t have to worry about gym sessions!”    

Grier only came on board at Dry Arch Park at the beginning of this season. But she says the welcome has been fantastic. Grier’s enthusiasm about the club and the direction it’s moving in is plain to be seen. 

She’s no doubt a leader in the dressing room. The infectious manner in which Grier went about last week’s FAI Woman’s Amatuer Cup final press event is mentioned after, in conversation, with Bonagee boss Chris McNulty. 

His simple response was, “she’d cut you in half to win a ball”. 

Pressed on that transition and coming into a new dressing room at the start of the 2023 season, Grier said: “Playing Bonagee last year for Lagan Harps - it was obvious there was a serious standard being set. 

“They were frightening to play against. So I was delighted to come on board and the training, the intensity of it all, that’s exactly what I need being part of the Ireland set up as well. 

“It would be a dream come true for all of us to get over the line on Saturday. I was texting my uncle George Grier this week and he was quick to remind me that he won an All-Ireland final at Deacy Park with Fanad United back in the day. 

“So the aim is to match that feat and bring another medal home”. 

The domestic league in Donegal consisted of just four teams this season. And it feels like Bonagee’s success, through no fault of their own, means they’re now the big fish in that very small pond. 

But Grier believes 2023 can be a threshold moment for the game in Donegal. Ciara Grant and Amber Barrett are part of the Ireland side heading to Australia for the FIFA Woman’s World Cup while her own futsal odyssey in South America will also make plenty of headlines in the next number of months. 

Bonagee could well be crowned FAI Woman’s Amatuer Cup champions on Saturday if they can defeat Terenure Rangers in the decider on Saturday. 

There will be momentum there that simply needs to be harnessed and rode if the game is to grow from a few hotbeds and out into other areas of the county.  

“Getting this experience together as a team it’s so beneficial. And I think a rising tide lifts all boats as well. The Donegal League will hopefully grow and the year that’s in it, with the World Cup, it’s a chance to get real momentum behind Donegal woman’s football. 

“Even the last day with our own wee mascots, that was a lovely feature. You could see it in their wee faces how much it meant to them. And they were a real part of the day. It will have inspired those girls no doubt. 

“But it’s key now to get that involvement going. We’ve only four senior sides in the league this season. But there are girls everywhere that just need that opportunity. It’s so enjoyable and you can see the benefits here in Bonagee when all that works side by side. That’s the example - that’s proof that it can work”.