Stephanie Roche

(Stephanie Roche in acton V's Kzakhstan)

Super Striker Stephanie Does Shankill Proud

With only 3 minutes remaining in September’s Irish women’s soccer international against Kazakhstan it seemed that Ireland were about to emerge with only a draw from a match they had completely dominated. Such a 1 – 1 home result would have dealt a crippling blow to the team’s qualification chances for the FIFA Women’s 2011 World Cup finals. But with time for an Irish victory ticking relentlessly away, a last ditch attack saw Aine O’Gorman cross from the right to Fiona O’Sullivan who could only flash a shot across the Kazakhstan goal. It appeared that the visitors had survived yet another onslaught until Ireland’s super sub Stephanie Roche stepped up to belt the ball home from 3 yards out.

Hailed as “Ireland’s heroine” by the Irish Independent, but “Ireland’s hero” by RTE Sport, such gender quibbles were the last thing on Stephanie’s mind as the young Shanganagh woman celebrated her first goal for Ireland with her family - “My dad and my granny and all were down in Turners Cross to see the game. My granny was delighted. And my dad’s been there for ever -since I first started playing.”

Twenty year old Stephanie’s vital strike was the highest pinnacle to date of a football career which began amidst the unforgiving street games of Shankill, and only by chance even reached the grassy pitches of the schoolboy leagues “I didn’t play my first proper game of football until I was 11. One of the boys I used to play with - his mother said I was good enough to be playing for the Valeview team and I thought maybe I’ll give it a shot.”

It wasn’t easy back then when girls in a “schoolboys” soccer squad were an even more unusual sight than today. Striker Stephanie did make the Valeview team but had to endure some rough treatment by defenders with a point to prove against a girl cheeky enough to take them on. “My shins used to be black and blue after some games. I’ll never forget it. But the only way to get back at them was to score. It made me a better player.”

Stephanie underplays her bravery with a cheerful positivity that almost has you believing that those sexist hackers were doing her a favour. She also values the loyalty of her team mates back then. “I played on the streets with those boys for years. They were my friends and they always stood up for me when things got rough.”

Stephanie had to give up playing mixed football almost as soon as she’d started due to the rule against mixed teams over 12. Though she found the standard slightly lower she went on to play for several seasons with Cabinteely Girls before catching the eye of Noel King, coach of the Irish women’s senior team. “I just missed out in the final trials for Ireland under 15s and I was really heartbroken. But then I made the team at under 17s.”

Stephanie never looked back progressing through the under 19s to the international squad this year. “It’s been amazing… traveling the world and playing football”. Yet despite her achievements Stephanie didn’t exactly get a lot of support from her peers. “I used to get a bit of teasing when I was younger. There was always a bit of name-calling. But I had a few girls I was friends with and I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy. So lots of my friends were boys.”

Stephanie, happily ensconced in a two year old relationship with a supportive boyfriend, shrugs off the earlier teasing as one of the many challenges that she has weathered in her football career - including those that face all women from Ireland playing football at world level. Irish women tend to look longingly towards the US as the Mecca of the professional women’s game. Stephanie is no exception “That’s where it’s really big, in America. In the pro leagues over there the sport is maybe even more popular than the men’s game. I haven’t been approached to play there yet. You only find American scouts at the finals of international competitions. But if I was approached I’d definitely give it serious consideration”

It’s not just in the US that the pitches are greener. International women’s matches in Germany are shown on TV as a matter of course. Over a million female players are registered with the German football association and average attendances at women’s matches are roughly equivalent to League of Ireland gates over here. Several other European countries have professional championships while Ireland hasn’t even managed a national amateur Women’s league. “Getting really competitive games is difficult for me,” admits Stephanie, “the Dublin Women’s league is not the strongest right now.”

Given such contrasts Stephanie is rightly proud of the standards Irish women have managed to achieve. Ireland’s world ranking in the international women’s game is 27th compared to 34th for the men. She is also confident about improvements over the coming years and is absolutely convinced that the FAI are committed to women’s football. Stephanie herself has an FAI scholarship that gives her the time she needs to concentrate on improving her ability.

Meanwhile her career is going from strength to strength. Stephanie repaid her first inclusion in Ireland’s starting line up in the return game away to Kazakhstan by hammering home a cross from Julianne Russell. Her equalising goal gave Ireland the platform they needed to press on for a 2 –1 win. Talented, articulate, attractive, modest Stephanie is a superb role model for any young Shankill girl with ambitions to climb to the pinnacle of their sport. She is also doing her bit to develop the game she loves by volunteering for girls coaching sessions with Valeview, the Shankill club she started out with nine short years ago.

(Jimmy C Duggan)

For details of Stephanie’s coaching sessions please phone Jimmy at 087 2468958.