Sylvia Gee named Player of the Month for November/December

DLR Waves midfielder Sylvia Gee has been named Bus Éireann Women’s National League Player of the Month for November/December 2012.

The former Republic of Ireland Women’s international was recognised for her influence in helping the league’s newest club make tremendous progress after a slow start to life at the highest level of the game in Ireland.

Gee can lay claim to being one of the most dedicated players in Irish Women’s football as she travels from her home in Offaly to play for the club based in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown in South Dublin.

“To me this award is a team thing rather than any individual recognition. You can’t play this game on your own and the fact that one of the players was recognised shows that the team has improved,” said Gee.

“I was with Cork Women’s FC last year and I wanted to keep playing at this level as long as I can. When Larry Mahoney took over the DLR Waves and approached me it was the primary reason why I made the move.

“I’m still living in Offaly. It would have been a trek from there to Cork or Dublin so it didn’t really make much of a difference from that point of view.

“It’s completely lunacy really but I still love the game. I still love the training and I love playing. I’ll do it as long as I can. I’m 35 now but I want to keep playing for as long as I’m capable of playing at this level.”

Gee’s career has taken her to the many different spots up and down the country, in the US and the UK as her list of former clubs includes Listowel Celtic, Benfica (Waterford), Springfield Sirens, Portlaoise, Leeds United, UCD, MYSC Lady Blues, Chicago United Breeze, Arizona Rush, London Gryphons and Cork Women’s FC.

She was a central part of the UCD women’s team that dominated Irish football ten years ago when they won the FAI Women’s Senior Cup three seasons in a row from 2002 to 2004 under current DLR Waves coach Larry Mahoney.

“UCD was a unique experience. We’ve a way to go to match that but we were lucky at UCD as we had a lot of things in place including really good staff there doing things such as strength and conditioning and we were training where the men were training at the time,” she said.

“It was top notch and I’ve not seen anything before or since that reached that level. There’s a way to go yet but I think we’re heading in the right direction with DLR Waves.

“We’re looking to improve as a team and individuals. We’d like to move up the table and continue to grow as a team.”

The experienced campaigner is now looking to provide guidance to the younger talents in the league to ensure the Bus Éireann Women’s National League continues to thrive.

“We’re all hoping this league will continue to grow. All of the young players need it to have a top level to aspire to but those players at that level also have a responsibility to work hard and keep performing. If we want the league to work we have to work too to make sure the standards improve every week and every year,” she added.