IN OCTOBER 2020, Abbie Larkin joined Republic of Ireland international Áine O’Gorman to launch the Aviva Soccer Sisters mid-term virtual skills hub.
She was 14 at the time. A rising star and aspiring footballer meeting one of her role models.
Today, the pair joined forces once again to launch the Aviva Soccer Sisters Easter Camps, but this time as team-mates at the highest level of international football.
SOCCER SISTERS ⚽️
— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) February 19, 2022
2020 | @Aineogor9 launches @AVIVAIRELAND Soccer Sisters camps with rising star Abbie Larkin
2022 | Aine & Abbie start together for WNT 🇮🇪#CanSeeCanBe | #COYGIG pic.twitter.com/BtiVGysotu
16-year-old Larkin made her Ireland senior debut at last month’s Pinatar Cup, joining O’Gorman in the starting XI to face Russia.
Soccer Sisters has been a mainstay through Larkin’s young career, starting out there at the age of five or six and meeting the likes of Stephanie Roche and former Girls In Green manager Sue Ronan through matches, media events and photocalls.
Abbie Larkin proves theory of #CanSeeCanBe
— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) February 11, 2022
𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟐 | @AVIVAIRELAND Soccer Sisters Mascot ⚽️
𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 | First WNT call-up ☘️#COYGIG | #WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/Dj2ledGmLy
How it started 🤝 How it’s going
— AVIVA (@AVIVAIRELAND) February 11, 2022
Huge congrats to former Aviva Soccer Sister Abbie Larkin making her first cap for the #WNT 🥳👏 https://t.co/Y17mJKEbWN pic.twitter.com/9T3UojhEOS
But the unassailable link to O’Gorman is, understandably, an extra special one for the Shelbourne teenage sensation.
“Obviously when I first seen her that day, I was like, ‘Oh my god, it’s Áine O’Gorman!’ I was so starstruck by her,” Larkin tells The42.
“I remember her having to give me a lift up to the beach [for a photoshoot] because I had no way of getting up there. And I was so silent in the car, like I didn’t speak once. It was real awkward.”
O’Gorman, who has 112 senior international caps to her name, is a long-time ambassador for the campaign, and Larkin’s meteoric rise gets a mention once she starts speaking about it.
“It’s just a great opportunity for any young girl to get involved,” she says. “It’s ever-growing year on year.
“And obviously, it’s great that they’ll be there in person this year; being able to learn new skills, make new friends, and one day, follow in the footsteps of the likes myself or Abbie, which is bizarre that she was a Soccer Sister not so long ago.”
What about that car drive?
The Peamount United star remembers it all too well.
“She didn’t say a word, she was this little shy kid,” O’Gorman recalls. “But don’t worry, when she’s around the younger girls in Ireland camp, she starts acting loud! The Shels girls, giving me stick.
“She actually told me one day before one of the matches – before her first start, she goes, ‘Áine, you just have to believe in yourself.’ I was like, ‘Okay Abbie, wise words!’”
“She’s obviously a talented young player,” the Wicklow native adds. “She just kind of goes out, plays with no fear. She has lots of ability and the attitude to go alongside it, so she’s gonna go far. And I think there’s many more caps to come.”
While the connection is clear in O’Gorman’s mind now, it may not have been made immediately when Larkin first came into Vera Pauw’s set-up a few weeks back.
A Fifth Year student from Ringsend and U17 international, Larkin laughs: “I think she knew me from the Soccer Sisters. I had to remind her of a few things!
“But she was definitely there for me if I needed her. If I was nervous or anything, I’d go over and talk to Áine. It made things easier anyway.
“She’s so nice. A very good footballer, she’s very experienced. She’s a lovely person to play with and she’s very communicative on the pitch. And she’s helped me a lot.”
- Interviews with O’Gorman and Larkin will follow on The42 in the coming days.
Ireland internationals Devin Toner and Lindsay Peat were our guests for The Front Row’s special live event, in partnership with Guinness, this week. The panel chats through Ireland’s championship chances ahead of the final round of Guinness Six Nations matches, and members of the Emerald Warriors – Ireland’s first LGBT+ inclusive rugby team – also join us to talk about breaking down barriers in rugby. Click here to subscribe or listen below:
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