It is three years since Anna Geary retired from inter-county camogie.
Leaving a stellar playing career behind her that encompassed four All-Stars, four All-Irelands and three club All-Irelands, the Cork woman never thought it would be possible to feel those highs again – but it turns out she may have been wrong.
There are more similarities between the clash of ash and tapping of feet than she had ever imagined.
“I definitely miss playing. To be honest with you, I never thought I would fill that void when I stepped back from inter-county camogie, because when you are going out on that pitch on a big match day it’s a nervous energy, but there is also a slight little bit of terror inside you going: ‘What if I’m shown up? What if my player gets like 10 goals off me?’
“It’s funny,” laughs Anna, “because when I used to step out on the dance floor on Sunday nights, I was filled with a similar nervous energy. I was like: ‘I could totally be shown up here, I could totally mess up.’”
Mess up, she did not.
Anna’s performance on the dance floor was as impressive as on the field, reaching the final of RTÉ’s Dancing with the Stars at the end of March. Week-on-week she was one of the competition’s most consistent performers.
The grit and determination she came to know through camogie was evident in her dancing – and also from the fact that she practised eight hours a day with her partner Kai Widdrington.
Anna Geary, Brian Keane and Dr Hazel Wallace ahead of this weekend's WellFest.Anna Geary, Brian Keane and Dr Hazel Wallace ahead of this weekend's WellFest.
As regards her background in dance, Anna informs Irish Country Living that it is pretty similar to most of the rest of us.
“When I was on a night out with my team I would have been the first on the dance floor, I loved it, but that was it,” she explains.
“I think I was probably like every second Irish girl and boy, in that I was thrown into Irish dancing when I was five or six.
I made a swift exit because I was too expressive and hadn’t really mastered the whole ‘hands down by your side’ thing.
"I was that girl: ‘Can you put your hands down by your side?’ So that was very short-lived.”
In 2015, when Anna retired from Cork senior camogie, she had just undertaken a course in performance coaching, and this really began to give her a different perspective on life.
“My dad always jokes, saying: ‘If you didn’t start that course you wouldn’t have started questioning your life, your goals and who am I? You would never have left Cork.’
"But I did: I started questioning my priorities and what I wanted. If I got nothing else from it, from a personal-development point of view it was amazing, because it got me to rethink what it is that I want.”
Dr Hazel Wallace, Brian Keane and Anna Geary ahead of this weekend's WellFest.The 30-year-old is now based in Dublin (still adamant, though, that she is Cork through and through) and with her positivity and can-do attitude, she has achieved success in whatever she puts her hand to: dancing, broadcasting, writing, coaching and public speaking.
At this weekend’s WellFest she will be at Supervalu’s WellFood zone discussing the importance of good nutrition in sport. Getting people to see health and fitness as a lifestyle, as opposed to a fad, is something Anna is very passionate about.
One of the main things that prompted Anna to take part in Dancing with the Stars was that it would allow young girls to see that you can have an athletic frame and still be glamorous.
I wanted to show younger girls that you can be really interested in sport and have an athletic frame, but you can also be into the glitz, the glam: the makeup, the tan and the high heels.
“You don’t have to choose one over the other, because there are too many young girls dropping out of sport. I think they may feel that they have to, that they can’t do both.
“I’m massively, massively passionate about younger girls understanding that having muscle and having an athletic frame is really positive and it’s really healthy as well. Even staying away from the image side of it, away from the fitness, exercising regularly is good for your body and for your mind.”
Despite transitioning from camogie star to bona fide celebrity, Anna has clearly never forgotten where she came from, raising the profile of camogie significantly through her work.
Looking back, she does miss camogie, but is grateful for all the opportunities it has allowed her.
“Every September is really hard when I see the teams run out, because I know what it feels like to be there, I know what it feels like to lose there, I know what it feels like to win there, I know what it feels like to be a captain and walk up those steps,” reflects Anna.
“So there is always a little bit of nostalgia attached to it, but then I’m really lucky that I ever got that chance. There are so many players out there that are good enough, but just because of their circumstances they never ever got the chance.
“I played for 12 years and I would have never gotten a lot of these opportunities if it wasn’t for camogie, so I’m always going to be indebted to it for that.”
WellFest takes place at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham from 12 to 13 May. Anna Geary will be speaking on Saturday at Supervalu’s WellFood zone alongside Dr Hazel Wallace, fitness trainer Brian Keane and others.
Read more
GAA battle of the sexes
Behind the scenes at Dancing with the Stars
It is three years since Anna Geary retired from inter-county camogie.
Leaving a stellar playing career behind her that encompassed four All-Stars, four All-Irelands and three club All-Irelands, the Cork woman never thought it would be possible to feel those highs again – but it turns out she may have been wrong.
There are more similarities between the clash of ash and tapping of feet than she had ever imagined.
“I definitely miss playing. To be honest with you, I never thought I would fill that void when I stepped back from inter-county camogie, because when you are going out on that pitch on a big match day it’s a nervous energy, but there is also a slight little bit of terror inside you going: ‘What if I’m shown up? What if my player gets like 10 goals off me?’
“It’s funny,” laughs Anna, “because when I used to step out on the dance floor on Sunday nights, I was filled with a similar nervous energy. I was like: ‘I could totally be shown up here, I could totally mess up.’”
Mess up, she did not.
Anna’s performance on the dance floor was as impressive as on the field, reaching the final of RTÉ’s Dancing with the Stars at the end of March. Week-on-week she was one of the competition’s most consistent performers.
The grit and determination she came to know through camogie was evident in her dancing – and also from the fact that she practised eight hours a day with her partner Kai Widdrington.
Anna Geary, Brian Keane and Dr Hazel Wallace ahead of this weekend's WellFest.Anna Geary, Brian Keane and Dr Hazel Wallace ahead of this weekend's WellFest.
As regards her background in dance, Anna informs Irish Country Living that it is pretty similar to most of the rest of us.
“When I was on a night out with my team I would have been the first on the dance floor, I loved it, but that was it,” she explains.
“I think I was probably like every second Irish girl and boy, in that I was thrown into Irish dancing when I was five or six.
I made a swift exit because I was too expressive and hadn’t really mastered the whole ‘hands down by your side’ thing.
"I was that girl: ‘Can you put your hands down by your side?’ So that was very short-lived.”
In 2015, when Anna retired from Cork senior camogie, she had just undertaken a course in performance coaching, and this really began to give her a different perspective on life.
“My dad always jokes, saying: ‘If you didn’t start that course you wouldn’t have started questioning your life, your goals and who am I? You would never have left Cork.’
"But I did: I started questioning my priorities and what I wanted. If I got nothing else from it, from a personal-development point of view it was amazing, because it got me to rethink what it is that I want.”
Dr Hazel Wallace, Brian Keane and Anna Geary ahead of this weekend's WellFest.The 30-year-old is now based in Dublin (still adamant, though, that she is Cork through and through) and with her positivity and can-do attitude, she has achieved success in whatever she puts her hand to: dancing, broadcasting, writing, coaching and public speaking.
At this weekend’s WellFest she will be at Supervalu’s WellFood zone discussing the importance of good nutrition in sport. Getting people to see health and fitness as a lifestyle, as opposed to a fad, is something Anna is very passionate about.
One of the main things that prompted Anna to take part in Dancing with the Stars was that it would allow young girls to see that you can have an athletic frame and still be glamorous.
I wanted to show younger girls that you can be really interested in sport and have an athletic frame, but you can also be into the glitz, the glam: the makeup, the tan and the high heels.
“You don’t have to choose one over the other, because there are too many young girls dropping out of sport. I think they may feel that they have to, that they can’t do both.
“I’m massively, massively passionate about younger girls understanding that having muscle and having an athletic frame is really positive and it’s really healthy as well. Even staying away from the image side of it, away from the fitness, exercising regularly is good for your body and for your mind.”
Despite transitioning from camogie star to bona fide celebrity, Anna has clearly never forgotten where she came from, raising the profile of camogie significantly through her work.
Looking back, she does miss camogie, but is grateful for all the opportunities it has allowed her.
“Every September is really hard when I see the teams run out, because I know what it feels like to be there, I know what it feels like to lose there, I know what it feels like to win there, I know what it feels like to be a captain and walk up those steps,” reflects Anna.
“So there is always a little bit of nostalgia attached to it, but then I’m really lucky that I ever got that chance. There are so many players out there that are good enough, but just because of their circumstances they never ever got the chance.
“I played for 12 years and I would have never gotten a lot of these opportunities if it wasn’t for camogie, so I’m always going to be indebted to it for that.”
WellFest takes place at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham from 12 to 13 May. Anna Geary will be speaking on Saturday at Supervalu’s WellFood zone alongside Dr Hazel Wallace, fitness trainer Brian Keane and others.
Read more
GAA battle of the sexes
Behind the scenes at Dancing with the Stars
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