Offaly LGFA’s Nicole Buckley is also a boxer and holds 12 All Ireland medals

The talented Offaly footballer is known for her skills on the pitch, but when she’s not playing for her club and county, she is a competitive boxer who competes internationally

Nicole Buckley isn’t just a Gaelic football player, she’s also a competitive boxer, who competes internationally.

The Offaly star holds 12 All Ireland medals and has travelled abroad to represent Ireland.

She told RSVP Live about how she manages to balance both sports, who inspired her playing career and her future career plans.

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My stand out moment

The stand out moment for me would have to be winning the national league division 4 title and being named on the team of the league in 2022.

My toughest opponent

My toughest opponent to mark would probably be Nessa Dooley from Kildare because she is very skilful, can shoot from far distance and is a very good carrying when on the ball.

My favourite place to play

My favourite position would have to be in the backline because I feel that if I was in the forward line I would be at nothing because I can't score to save my life.

Balancing my sporting career, personal life and work

It's vital for me to have a notebook or calendar to balance all these aspects of life between playing football, boxing, studying in college and working part-time because I can clearly see what I am doing and I am able to plan my day ahead based on the activity I will be doing on that day. However sometimes things do clash. For example, I was away in London last week boxing for the Irish college team at an international tournament when we were playing Monaghan and therefore missed this match. Taking day by day is very important and reflecting on what has been achieved instead of stressing about what hasn't been achieved.

The people that inspire my sporting career

My family inspires my playing career because they help me push through challenges and setbacks and help me to get to my goals and ambitions. My family is very competitive and I feel that we are always trying to get one up on each other so I feel that this helps me to get the best out of myself and perform at top levels in the ring and on the pitch.

My greatest achievement

My greatest achievement in life has to be winning an Elite boxing title and getting the opportunity to represent Ireland in Poland at a big international tournament where I brought home silver and team Ireland was named the second best team of the tournament. A big memory for me in boxing also was representing Ireland at the under 22 European championships in Montenegro and being named team captain. Unfortunately I didn't medal here but I gained a lot of valuable experience which is being seen in my last few competitions.

The players I would choose on a football exchange market

I would choose to have Aimee Mackin because she is very comfortable and confident when she is on the ball. She brings a huge amount of skills to any game she is playing. The second player I would choose would be Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh because she is very skilful and she is excellent at her position on the field in regard to shooting and taking frees.

My future career

My future career is to become a primary school teacher. I am currently studying in DCU and started my final year in September. This is my main goal that I set myself. I would like to continue travelling and competing in international competitions.

One thing I would change about the Ladies Gaelic Football Association

I would like to have more clarity and collaboration in relation to the clash of fixtures within the county at all levels.

A fact about me people may not know

I do boxing on the nights that I don't have football training, and I currently have 12 All Ireland medals for boxing with a vast amount of international experience representing Ireland at competitions at top levels.

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