Sister act led Mayo's Caldwell to All-Star success

She came to the game late, didn't play until she was in secondary school, and wore shin pads to her first training session. However, after moving from Wicklow, Danielle Caldwell soon learned the Mayo way.

She loves football now, while still understanding the importance of being able to switch off when she goes home at night.

Her sisters are her grounding force and between Danielle (25), Anna (26), and Katie (29), they have a unique bond.

Anna has special needs and has become the fulcrum of their family."It's lovely having two sisters who don’t play sport because when you come home, it’s a complete switch off," says Danielle.

"Anna has no concept of sport at all and she puts everything in perspective as well. Even after a bad game or if you lose, there are people in a lot worse positions than losing the game.

"Anna has a translocation of her chromosome 17, which results in her having special needs.

"When Anna first got diagnosed, mum had just found out she was pregnant with me. There’s only a year and a month between us and growing up, I kind of grew up a bit earlier than other kids. I was defending her, I suppose, I was nearly a big sister to her rather than a little sister.

"I wouldn’t change anything for the world, she’s absolutely amazing. We’re better people in our house because of her. She taught us how to be kind and patient and she makes us better people in general.

"She doesn’t take anything for granted and she’s so happy. There’s not a care in the world on her and she is turning 27 in January."

Danielle and Katie have both taken healthcare career paths – it was perhaps inevitable, given their caring natures. Danielle moved to England in 2018 and has just finished her physiotherapy studies, where she was based in