The Portarlington sporting community came together this week to give local girl Alanna Fitzpatrick a considerable show of support as she get set to represent Ireland in this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Alanna is part of the Ireland women’s rugby 7s squad – and the Olympic flag was raised in Portarlington Rugby Club during the week at a special event to recognise her achievements.
Alanna began playing rugby in Portarlington when she was “12 or 13” but it wasn’t long before her talents demanded a bigger stage. She was brought into the Leinster and then Irish rugby system.
Just over 12 months ago, she completed her Leaving Cert and a couple of days later started on a full-time contract with the IRFU.
She has been all across the world over the past year representing Ireland in the 7s series – and now heads for the Olympics, the biggest sporting event in the world.
She was back in Portarlington on Wednesday evening along with her mam and dad, Denise and Scott, brother Lee and sister Nicole as well as extended family members and friends.
“My Dad brought me out and said give it a try,” she says of her first experience playing rugby.
“I just loved it. I just thought it was so fun. I couldn’t wait to get to training. Come home from school and get to training.
When she was still only 15 she was brought into the Leinster U-18 setup. “It just kept developing from there but I never thought I’d get to the level I’m at now.
“It was such a great hobby and I never thought it would become my job.”
“It’s a bit surreal,” says her dad Scott, who played for years with Portarlington.
“We’re proud of them all. They all do their own thing but this is mind boggling.”
He said he went to an IRFU event recently along with other family members and a video they played about the Olympics was a real goose-bumps moment.
“The few hairs I have left on my head were standing,” he laughed. “It just blew me away.”
Across her short career at this level, Alanna has played in Dubai, Perth, Vancouver, LA, Hong Kong and Singapore.
“It’s busy but enjoyable because you get to experience all these countries that you probably wouldn’t otherwise,” she says. And her team-mates, hailing from all over the country, have become very close friends now too.
“They are like my family. We’re with each other 24/7. It’s so family orientated – it’s so nice. They’re like your sisters.”
For her family, this is an incredible experience.
“We’ve been to Dubai, LA, as many as we can without having to remortgage the house,” laughs Denise. “We pack it in at the weekend. We did LA in four days.”
And they’ll be in Paris too where a huge number of family members and friends are making the trip to support Alanna and Ireland.
And why wouldn’t they. It’s not too often you have an Olympian of your own to support.
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