'It can be tough at times' - Cork star Emma Cleary talks work-life balance

Emma Cleary is facing into one of the busiest summers of her life this year, with football, work and exam commitments eating into her schedule.

So how does the Cork star balance her commitments on the field, off it, in the office and in the lecture hall?

Remarkably, she still found the time to sit down with Fitter Happier for a chat, as an ambassador for SuperValu’s #COMMUNITYINCLUDESEVERYONE campaign.

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FITTER HAPPIER: What’s on your sporting bucket list?

EMMA CLEARY: “I definitely want to run a marathon at some stage. I think it would be cool to do a few in different cities of the world.

“Obviously I can’t be training for a marathon at the moment, but that is definitely one thing I would love to do when I retire.

“I’d go for a lot of long-distance runs in the off-season. I like long-distance running, so a marathon is definitely on the bucket list.”

FH: You are different to a lot of footballers, who hate long runs.

EC: “I suppose I’m definitely not the fastest player in the world, so I’m more someone who tries to get up and down the pitch as much as I can.

“I’m probably more of an engine than speed, really, so that’s the type of running that I’d prefer.”

FH: Do you have a background in long-distance running?

EC: “No, I think just during Covid, probably like the rest of the country I had nothing else to be doing, so I’d go out onto the pitch and go for runs.”

Cork's Emma Cleary

FH: What distances would you run in the off-season?

EC: “Probably 12 or 15k. There is a nice loop where I live in Ballincollig, but I don’t get too many of them while I’m in-season, because obviously the road would be killing your legs. But I do enjoy them in the winter.”

FH: A lot of people travel the world and compete in marathons in far flung places. Have you got a dream destination?

EC: “It definitely is something I’d like to do. When I retire it will be something cool to see different parts of the world. I’m going to go with New York.”

FH: Tell us about your life outside of sport.

EC: “I work in PWC in Cork. I’m in audits. I’m doing my accountancy exams as well and I have my finals this summer.”

FH: What’s your work-life balance like? How do you find time for training?

EC: “I suppose it can be tough at times, especially when we are in our busy season at work from January to April.

“But I suppose you just have to be extremely organised, and that might mean starting the day that bit earlier, so you can finish up for training or for the gym.

“It’s just about being organised really and I suppose it does help with the hybrid working.

“I go into the office a lot of days, but say on the days we have a pitch session I might stay at home, so I can make my lunch at home.”

FH: How is the exam prep going?

EC: “We get a three-month study leave in the summer, so the exams are in August and we get our study leave at the end of May. We’ll be studying throughout the summer.”

FH: What other sports did you play growing up in Cork?

EC: “I suppose as young kids we played football, camogie, soccer, Irish dancing and gymnastics. Football was always the main one in our house. It was always football.”

FH: Did you excel in any other sport?

EC: “I probably would have preferred soccer. I played for Lakewood and we would have been in cup finals all the way up, playing in Turners Cross.

“I love soccer. It was great. We’d have soccer in the winter and football in the summer. I played soccer up until I was about 16.”

Cork Footballer Emma Cleary at SuperValu’s launch of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and its #CommunityIncludesEveryone campaign

FH: Cork has produced plenty of top women soccer players. Did you play with or against any of them?

EC: “Saoirse Noonan is one of my best friends, but she would have played with the Cork ladies’ footballers the whole way up. I won All-Irelands with her growing up.

“One question I’ve been asked is, who’s the best player I’ve played with, and Saoirse would be up there. Her skill levels were unbelievable.

“When we won a Minor All-Ireland together, I would have been centre-forward and she would have been full-forward, and getting the ball into her was a dream.

“You knew something was going to come of it. She is a serious talent.

“We played each other in an Under-16 Cup final and my job was to man-mark her for the whole game. I don’t think I kicked the ball, but I just ran around the pitch after her.

“We won 2-1, so I can hold that over her!”

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