THIS OFF-SEASON HAS been a very different one for Hannah Looney.
The Cork dual star moved to New York in October, and started a new chapter Stateside.
It was a big change, but a welcome one, as she detailed with The42 a few weeks in.
She’s gone from endless camogie and football commitments every night of the week, to “trying to really live that New York life” and “make the most of everything,” while settling in and finding her feet with life and work. She’s been busy exploring The City That Never Sleeps, attending Broadway shows and ice hockey games, and meeting new people.
There’s almost too much going on this off-season, Looney laughs.
A stark contrast to the last few.
“Traditionally, if I look back through the years, when things would wind down, that was always a time I’d struggle,” she explains. “Especially playing both because you literally don’t have time to breathe, and then all sudden, it’s dark and there’s not a lot going on.”
The Rebels ace has opened up on her mental health journey in the past, speaking brilliantly on The Players Voice podcast to mark World Mental Health Day 2020.
Alongside Dublin footballer Shane Carthy, Looney mapped her path towards accepting and addressing personal struggles, and her realisation that mental health covers a large spectrum. One doesn’t have to be severely depressed or suicidal to suffer.
In the 2019 off-season, a few weeks after losing All-Ireland finals in both codes and while transitioning from college to the working world, everything began to cave in and spiral downwards.
Her girlfriend, Miah, noticed a change. “I miss the old Hannah, let’s sit down and talk,” she said, planting a seed in Looney’s head as the realisation hit home that she needed professional help.
“My experience has been that all go, focused routine, summer, winning All-Irelands, losing All-Irelands; it didn’t really matter at the end of the day, the winter would come and I’d just go in on myself,” Looney explains to The42. “I’d go out and socialise a lot, go on the beer in college, but maybe I wasn’t even that present when I was there.
“I’m just fortunate to have had my girlfriend at the time, who was the one who kind of checked in me. I was able to just realise that my mental health was declining. And when I checked in, I kind of brought it back up.
“Obviously, when you’re transitioning from college to the real world, that’s another time that’s really hard, and I don’t think people give themselves enough credit for that transition, whatever you do after college. That downtime after a season and kind of transitioning to responsibilities are two areas I struggled with.
“I’m just grateful for the WGPA and their services. And I’m also really grateful, we’re so fortunate in Cork ladies football and Cork camogie to have Barry Corkery as our mental health guru, as such. He looks after all our players individually and to have his support has been phenomenal. I speak on behalf of Cork ladies football and Cork camogie in general when I say that.
Brilliantly lead by @powerian .. @Looneytunes_kid open and honest account of her experiences is truly powerful! Pleasure to have been a part of it https://t.co/ra82zKNNJ1
— Shane Carthy (@S_Carthy8) October 9, 2020
“For me, I’ve learned a lot, and now I can manage it a bit better. Obviously, we all have our down days and stuff but I think learning how look after yourself mentally is a huge stepping stone. People in college especially need to, not check in… but it’s an important thing to just get a grasp of at that stage. So I’m glad I did.
“Would I be able to be over here [in New York], doing all this on my own, if I hadn’t experienced what I experienced? Probably not.”
The road back all began with a text to Gemma Begley of the WGPA — now merged with the GPA, where Begley is Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager — after that conversation with Miah, and she soon began to avail of the Association’s counselling services.
Looney echoes the fact that she was nowhere near rock bottom at that point; she found herself slipping and caught it just in time.
One doesn’t have to be in the depths of despair to act.
And she’s so glad she did.
“Yeah, 100%. And that’s the most important part, I think; when you realise. It’s all up from there. If you just check in and be like, ‘Right, I need to talk to someone.’ It could be a friend, it could be a family [member], if you’re fortunate enough to have access to services, that’s there. But when you get to that point, you’re on the way up already.
“I would encourage people — especially at this time of year, GAA players after the season — just to kind of check in with someone. It might be simple, it could be like having a cup of tea with somebody, and you mightn’t think that that’s gonna help you, but it will.”
That’s something Looney touched on on The Players Voice: more honest conversations with friends are important, as is having other people speak out and share their experiences.
Ashling Thompson is a good friend of her’s, and when she spoke out it was a “head-turner,” giving her a greater understanding.
“Ashling’s been a great role model for mental health throughout the years,” Looney nods.
“And she will say that too — it’s just checking in with yourself and checking in with with friends and family.”
She’s done just that over the past while, learning what works best for her as she navigates uncharted waters on this new adventure.
Thompson, in fact, was one welcome visitor to Looney’s new home in the Big Apple in the run-up to Christmas, with Miah another, before they headed home-home for the festivities.
“I’m loving life, I miss my girlfriend a lot, miss my family, but you know, it hasn’t been anything I have been dwelling on,” Looney said a few weeks back. “The plan is my girlfriend’s gonna come over here on the 10th and we’re both going to fly home together on the 22nd. So that’ll be exciting.
“I’m waiting for a big fuss to be made about me! And then the hope in the New Year is some friends and family will visit.”
She’s keeping herself ticking over in terms of gym classes and jogs, but isn’t thinking too much into her Cork future.
“At the moment, it’s very much take it as it comes and see. I’m not ruling anything in or ruling anything out,” she said, planning to stay in touch with both new management teams and squads.
“I’m here until the summer anyway, and we’ll see after that. If I come back, well and good. If I stay on, well and good too. There’ll still be plenty of years left of me in the Cork jersey either way, but for now, I just have to take this opportunity.”
That, she is most certainly doing, with this off-season a very different one.
For all the right reasons, no matter what happens thereafter.
Need help? Support is available:
- Samaritans 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.ie
- Aware 1800 80 48 48 (depression, anxiety)
- Pieta House 1800 247 247 or email mary@pieta.ie (suicide, self-harm)
- Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)
- Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s).
