CATHAL HEFFERNAN’S EXCITEMENT is palpable.
It’s around 4pm. That morning, he found out he would captaining his country for the first time.
“I was shocked to see it, but I was so happy,” he tells The42. “Just to hear Jason [Donohue] say I’m captain was one of the greatest feelings ever. Walking out, the national anthem being played, it was a really good experience.
“When I went into the dressing room, it was up on the wall. So I was delighted.”
His Ireland career may be relatively short-lived so far, but Heffernan, who turns 15 in April, has already made a big impression.
He has been a regular part of an Ireland side that has a 100% record this season. They have played eight and won eight, with Heffernan an integral member of a backline that has conceded just four goals in that period.
One of the standout wins was a 3-1 victory over England at St George’s Park last December.
“And I feel like I’d like to see what he’s like leading a team out in international football.”
Despite playing against older players on the Australia U17s team, Heffernan does not look out of place. On the contrary, he could easily pass for 17 given the player’s impressive physical stature for someone so young.
He delivers an assured display at the back as Ireland earn a deserved 2-0 win, playing the kind of positive, ball-playing football that Donohue favours and the team is adept at producing.
“It was a tough test, I really have to say, but I enjoyed it,” the teenage centre-back says afterwards.
If Heffernan continues at his current rate of progress, he has a good chance of making a career at the top level of the game. He certainly does not need to look far for advice about elite sport. His mother and father, Marian and Rob, are both Olympians, with the latter a bronze medallist in the 50km racewalk at the London 2012 Games.
Cathal got a taste of the spotlight himself when he appeared on a recent celebrity edition of the RTÉ show Ireland’s Fittest Family alongside Rob and Marian, and his 16-year-old sister Meghan, who herself plays for Cork City U17s. They were coached by Derval O’Rourke and ultimately won a €10,000 prize, which they donated to an autism charity.
“They’ve had a massive influence,” Cathal says of his parents. “They’ve been teaching me most things about high performance and stuff like that. How to take care of my body and how to maximise my performance before I go away. Managing my training load and not leaving me do too much before I go on these trips and play matches with Ireland. They’ve been a really good help to me over the past 12 months and I think that’s how I’ve got here today.”
Cathal did do athletics when he was younger as well as playing some GAA, but he was ultimately not tempted to follow in his parents’ footsteps.