Cathal Coyne: a leader on the field here and beyond

BEING a leader is something that comes naturally to Cathal Coyne.

The 22-year-old from Castlebar has made a big splash since arriving at Cumberland University in Tennessee, USA, four years ago on a soccer scholarship, getting a degree in business.

Operating as a right centre-half, he was named captain this year and was named on the Mid-South Conference team of the year.

Cathal’s head coach, Shane Keely, spoke volumes about the influence he has had this year.

“It is a great honour and well deserved. With recently being named to the academic All Conference team and captaining our team all season, he is a brilliant example and representative of our program. We are proud of him and the influence he has on our team."

Back at home for Christmas with his family – dad John, mum Deirdre, brother Ronan and sister Ciara - Cathal is planning to go back in the spring to do his Masters degree in either marketing or leadership, and the experience he has had so far in the States is something that he has relished.

On how the scholarship came about, Cathal explained: “There’s two Dublin coaches, Adam Grant and Shane Keely, and I told them I wanted to come over and play and get my degree. They wanted to see me play so I had to send them highlight videos of me playing with Galway United.

“At the time I was playing centre midfield. I was with the Under 17s with Galway United at the time.

“They liked what they saw so they gave me a call and wanted to get to know a bit more about me and my personality. They liked it and offered me a scholarship.”

While soccer in the United States is down the pecking order in terms of popularity, with their home sports such as American football, baseball and basketball remaining king, the quality is high and was an eye-opener for Cathal.

“I thought going over to America, it’d be alright getting into the team but there’s lots of guys from all Europe and even Australia in the same boat as me that played at a high level at home and get the college experience. There’s guys there that were released by the likes of Burnley and Everton, so the quality is high.”

Being away from home can be a daunting prospect for any young person and Cathal admits to being a home bird, but things were made a bit easier with another Mayo man and Castlebar Celtic team-mate Martin Walsh (who played alongside Cathal when Celtic won the Super League in 2019) over there in the USA also on a scholarship.

TALENT

Cathal’s talent was evident at an early age. He joined Celtic at 10 years old after starting out at Snugboro United, where his dad John was doing some coaching.

He began to get attention for his performances in the Community Games, eventually winning the gold medal in the All-Irelands.

He was part of underage Castlebar Celtic teams at Under 12, Under 13 and Under 14 - and was made captain at Under 13 team that won the league. The team included future Super League winners such as Michael Fahy, Dara Ludden and Ruairi Nevin.

More recognition came when he made the Mayo Kennedy Cup squad in 2014. He played in a Connacht Cup Under 16 final with Celtic against Mervue United, where he caught the attention of Salthill Devon.

The club got in contact with John and he later signed with the club, playing at centre midfield with the Under 17s before a stint with Galway United Under 17s, reaching a FAI Youth Cup semi-final with the team.

Despite defeat to Cork City in the semi-final of the competition, his reputation grew and he was given a trial with the FAI schoolboys in 2017 in Abbottstown.

He went back to Celtic after that and made his debut for the first team in 2018 under then-manager Michael McNicholas. He started at right-back before being moved into centre-half alongside Ioseph O’Reilly for the 2019 season.

At this stage, the scholarship was offered to him. There was uncertainty on his part whether to accept the place, but he eventually did and he signed off with Celtic - but not before playing his part in helping Celtic win their first Super League since 2011. He made the Mayo Football League’s Super League team of the year.

“I changed my mind a few times over the summer whether to go or not. They already started school over there but they brought me over. They believed in me and that’s what helped me perform over there.”

He does miss performing in front of the crowd at Celtic Park and would play for Celtic ‘100 per cent’ if he returned home. But Cathal is likely to extend his stay in the US. He has been offered a chance to get involved in coaching there in the long term, and has already stepped up to do some coaching in summer camps out there.

A natural leader.