Cllr Vicki Casserly with Ella Sherlock and her mother Dawn
Ella’s love for football pays off with Special Merit Award
A love for football and the determination to “stick with it” earned Ella Sherlock a Special Merit Award at the Active South Dublin Sports Awards 2024.
Ella, from Knocklyon, is part of the Irish Women’s Cerebral Palsy team who claimed bronze at the CP Football World Cup in Spain, in November 2024.
A player with the Football for All team in Sacred Heart FC in Killinarden, she started training when she was four.
From training “only down the road on Fridays,” as she said while collecting her award, she then embarked on an “incredible” journey with the CP Development Academy in Dublin.
Her condition was never an obstacle to her desire of staying active and playing sports, nor was her gender.
“Jumping from club to club I was always the only girl, and I was the only girl in Sacred Heart for years,” she said at the Awards ceremony.
“Looking at Heather Jameson, the Sports Development Officer with the Women’s CP team, I thought, ‘If she’s there, there must be other girls,’ and that’s what kept the team growing after I joined.
“The recognition that there are others out there who want to do this.”
Ella, who is also an athletics runner, said she knew she loved football since her first training in Sacred Heart.
The love for the sport made her “stick with it,” as her mother Dawn said, until she successfully passed the trials for the World Cup.
“It’s brilliant, there’s a strong camaraderie in the team, as they share so much,” said Dawn as she cheered for Ella receiving the award.
“It’s great exercise for them and they cherish the moments when they are training.”
A sixth-year student at St Colmcille’s Community School in Knocklyon, Ella will sit her Leaving Certificate this year.
“There’s a lot of juggling,” laughed Dawn.
“She still wants to go to everything and do everything.
“The mocks are next week, so it’s been hectic,” Ella confirmed while on stage.
“But she is finding the time and hopefully the hard work will pay off,” added her mam.
Ella attended the first trials for the CP Football European Championship over the weekend, which might bring her to play for Ireland at an international level again in the summer.
Like many of her peers thinking about their future as they sit their Leaving Cert, Ella has made up her mind.
“I’m hoping to do Sports Management in UCD.”
