By Daragh Ó Conchúir
Achievement has always been a staple of Trish Jackman’s life, it seems. By dint of ability, yes, but also a ferocious work ethic. And relentless curiosity.
Dr Patricia Jackman, to provide her full title, is associate professor in sport and exercise psychology at the University of Lincoln and chair of the psychology division of the Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences. She is also a registered sport and exercise psychologist.
She was 15 when she made her camogie debut for Waterford in 2007 and became a fulcrum as they rose from premier junior to senior, winning All-Irelands in 2011 and 2015. That latter year was also when she won the last of her seven straight M Donnelly All-Ireland Poc Fada titles, a record Cork’s Molly Lynch will be trying to equal in 2027.
There were five Ashbourne Cup triumphs with Waterford IT along the way and the landmark of being the first woman to be named Waterford GAA Player of the Year – Beth Carton has joined her on that roll of honour subsequently.
2015 was also when Jackman began her PhD at the University of Lincoln, and while she got through a debut senior campaign the following year, the commute was draining and she took a hiatus. There was a return in 2019, by which time she was lecturing at her alma mater but the 11-hour round-trip wasn’t sustainable.
She did continue with the club (main photo) and had a hand in the injury-time goal scored by her sister Úna, that put the Gaill Tír ahead of St Rynagh’s in the All-Ireland intermediate final, and followed up with a pointed free to confirm the result.
Covid facilitated a full stop on her camogie career with that game, though still in her 20s. So instead, Jackman did an ultra-marathon and in May, aged 35, she made her international running debut in the European 10,000m Cup in Italy. That came after winning the National 5 Mile Championship on her first national run in Ireland last year.
Posing with men’s winner Brendan Cummins, in 2012, after posting the fourth of seven consecutive Martin Donnelly Poc Fada victories in the Annaverna Mountains, Co Louth (Photo: INPHO/Ciarán Culligan)
This has all happened while she remains a leader in her field professionally. Having received funding for projects from the likes of WADA, UKAD, Innovate UK and the Australian Research Council, her work has influenced policy and practice nationally and internationally.
In a previous interview, she revealed that as “a reflective thinker,” she was fascinated even as a pre-teen by coming off the pitch after losing a game and still considering it “a magical experience”.
“Often it occurred during unexpected victories and defeats… both in camogie and basketball,” she explained. “A primary schools county final when I was aged 11 and in fifth class in 2003, and Waterford’s first win in a Camogie Primary Games against Clare in Thurles in 2004.
“After that, my curiosity transcended to other athletes in GAA and other sports. I wanted to know what their experiences were like.”
Nothing has changed, but though based in England, she remains active on home topics. Recently, Jackman was part of the first collaborative study by Míde Research into literature on women in sport on the island of Ireland.
It was a huge volume of work – 274 studies around the area of injury, sport performance, sport, health and wellbeing, society and culture, and coaching and professional practice were delved into. There were 582 respondents, including coaches, athletes, parents, researchers, policymakers and general community members. Eight key issues emerges as research priorities from women in sport and physical activity: retention and dropout, participation opportunities, menstruation, effects and benefits of physical activity, injury risk and recovery, supporting activity across the lifespan, tailored supports for active women and girls, and coaching girls and women.
“The Míde Research consortium has developed over the last number of years, and it’s really a cross-institute consortium of researchers interested in women and girls’ sport, exercise, and physical activity,” says Jackman now. “We focused in on women’s sport on the island, and embarked on a review. I don’t think we thought it was going to be quite as sizeable. Those 274 studies – that was a lot of reading, I can tell you – but really enjoyable just to see the extent of the work that had been done. I think it was really informative to see the trends, given that we had such a volume of work. You can really start to see some patterns.
“And then also, being able to identify some recommendations for researchers moving forward, for policymakers, for funders.
“We don’t necessarily think this is owned by anyone in particular, but it kind of creates a bit of a roadmap of opportunity for people to pursue, and some of that will be pursued, I’m sure, within Míde. But I think equally, it’s very much an opportunity for different groups to get involved and to progress that work.”
Attempting to shake off Kildare’s Melissa Lyons in the 2015 All-Ireland intermediate camogie final (Photo: INPHO/Tommy Grealy)
Síol na nÓg is another project that relates to creating healthy, productive environments for young Gaelic games players, and how coaches can use psychological principles to enhance development and playing experience.
“Three or four years ago, when the sports science framework was coming together under Aoife Lane’s leadership, we did a small piece of work of research around applied sports psychology and Gaelic games, just to see what the landscape was in relation to that. That then led on to a review of all of the research that we had published around psychology and Gaelic games. So we found 30 or 40, studies, looked at some of the trends and the topics, and it was really interesting to see that volume of work that had been done.
“What was coming through was that there were some nice pieces around coaching underage in Gaelic games, but what was probably missing was a unified way of bringing it all together in a way that will be accessible and useful for a coach.
“So, if a coach is going down to the pitch, how can they make that environment as great as possible? How can they integrate psychology into that? Because the reality is, we’re always thinking, we’re always feeding, we’re always doing something. All of those elements are going to come in every aspect of our life every day. And psychology is definitely integrated in everything that we do as coaches as well.”
Six principles were captured to help the seed of youth – hence Síol na nÓg – to grow and thrive. These are: to promote holistic development, create a learning environment, develop coach-player relationships, optimise the motivational climate, build togetherness and belonging, and emphasise fun and enjoyment.
“I’ve been doing some work with the GAA around this over the last number of months. So the hope will be that in the next few months, there will be additional resources coming on stream to support coaches on the ground to be able to implement it.”
Ensuring there is a next step is critical.
“One of the challenges, from an impact perspective, is does it make a change in the real world? We often see academic research being published, but then there’s a gap in that it doesn’t necessarily change anything. We often talk about this kind of research-to-practice or research-to-policy gap. And I think what we’re really trying to do in Míde, in particular, and certainly in a lot of the work I’ve been trying to do over the last number of years, is to make sure that it doesn’t just stop with the academic publication. It continues, and that’s only the start point of conversation and dialogue.
“I think it is incumbent on academic researchers to go beyond just the traditional output and really think about what’s the next step and how can I help to bridge that gap that may be there in terms of policy and practice.”
And through all this, she has still found the time to run.
“When I finished up camogie, I thought, ‘I’m never going to be very fast, so I’ll do an ultra-marathon.’ So I did a 40-mile close to two years after I finished. About three years ago, I said, “Right, I should probably take this a bit more seriously because I was probably taking work too seriously! So I just joined a group, really started training there a bit, got a little bit of help coaching-wise, and just really enjoyed it.”
Jackman leads the pack in a 5000m track race at Parliament Hill in London
She runs in the blue Waterford AC singlet and it has taken her around the continent. Yet she never did track until this year.
“It was my first time putting on spikes when I was back in Waterford and I found that I really enjoyed it. I was the oldest novice I think! I’m now veteran as well. You get told that, when you enter a race in England and you’re 35. It’s good fun, I do enjoy it… Running is a skill and it’s like any other sport. It takes years of work and you have to build it up slowly and sensibly.”
International selection was a surprise.
“It was really warm on the day, and it was definitely a baptism of fire for me. You hear the commentators talking about race craft when it comes to track racing, and I I’ve learned a lot, shall we say, my first season of trying it out. It was a great experience, and just to be around the other athletes on the Irish team, the likes of Niamh Allen and Fiona Everard, and the level they’re at… I was a little bit starstruck to be honest, but it was really enjoyable, and everyone was really welcoming.”
So is competitive Trish looking to raise the bar?
“I don’t know if it’s competitive Trish or just curious. I think I’m just curious to see where the limit is and to explore a little bit more.”
Like we said, the research continues.
