THERE ARE FEW things that can get an athlete’s heart racing like seeing their coach’s name flash up on their screen around an international break. Is it a call-up? A “sorry not this time”? The only thing slightly more terrifying is missing that call, especially if you’re waiting on your first invitation into the international fold.

This is what happened to Ireland’s latest recruit Maria Reynolds when she came off the pitch from training and saw that she had missed a call from Ireland’s head coach Carla Ward. It was the day after Ward had announced her squad for the upcoming double header against Poland in League A of the Nations League and immediately a flurry of thoughts and emotions started running through Reynolds’s head.

“When I saw her name, obviously the squad had been announced, so I was kind of like, maybe she’s giving a check in. Carla is quite good for that,” she said. “There were so many different ranges of emotions. I literally thought that she was going to ring someone else. That’s not how it works but you just think that. You’re missing a call from one of probably the most important people in your career.”

Of course, Ward didn’t call anyone else and when Reynolds quickly rang her back she got the news that she had received her first senior call-up following the withdrawal of several players through injury.

“I think you can imagine all the emotions were running through my head,” she said. “I was almost shaking on the phone.

I was over the moon. I think I went through about 100 different emotions. It was just absolute shock because you don’t think it’s going to come around that quickly.

It’s just about finding my feet and getting my confidence in myself. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

The Shamrock Rovers defender from Enniskerry had previously trained with the senior side ahead of Ireland’s Nations League playoff against Wales last October and is one of a number of players in the League of Ireland that Ward has been keeping an eye on.

“Obviously I trained with the squad prior to Christmas. I was in and around it and getting provisional call-ups and stuff like that,” she said. “So in and around it but I just didn’t think it would come this soon because there is so much quality in the squad, there’s so much quality in the country. It was just mad to get the phone call.”

There’s been a lot of talk in recent months about the inclusion (or lack thereof) of players from the league here in Ward’s squads but this window has shown a marked difference. Bohemians’ Aoibhe Brennan was initially involved in the squad but had to withdraw due to an injury. After the withdrawal of Lily Agg and Jessie Stapleton as well, Shelbourne’s Aoibheann Clancy was also included in the squad alongside Reynolds. The Rovers player thinks it’s a big step for the league to have several players vying for a spot in the senior side.

[It’s] massive for the league. Obviously the league is part-time. It’s getting there and improving year on year.

“It’s getting more professional as it goes on so a huge step for the league to have players in the squad. Credit to Carla for being able to include LOI players in squad.”

While she has noticed a step up from simply training with the squad to being a part of it, it has only made her hungrier to perform to a higher standard and prove that Ward was right to include her in the squad.

“Being in the full squad is definitely a different pressure and I’m just trying to find my feet. There’s no doubt that the standard of the game goes up, the pace of the game goes up,” she said.

“You’re playing with some of the best players. I think the first few training sessions, it’s just about finding my feet and getting my confidence in myself as well, because I think it is difficult coming from a League of Ireland set-up. It’s almost like, if I’m being honest, imposter syndrome.”

While she is fully focused on Rovers and their season, spending time around elite professionals such as Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan has also got her excited about the prospect of playing abroad at some stage when the time is right.

“I love Shamrock Rovers. It has been my home for so long now but I definitely want to progress. I would love to go professional as well,” she said.

“I think it’s natural to want to go over and play in England. My main focus is to play for Shamrock Rovers though until my time is up.”