Rose Of Tralee hails camogie roots

By Daragh Ó Conchúir

Katelyn Cummins, Rose Of Tralee, Dancing with the Stars contestant, apprentice electrician, disability advocate and camogie player, isn’t one for backing down from a challenge.

Seeing opportunities rather than hurdles is a life philosophy forged at home on the dairy farm and those principles have yielded a considerable dividend already in a mere 21 years.

It is why being in the middle of rehabbing two mangled ankles did not inhibit Cummins when invited to enter the lion’s den of DWTS.

She has been a revelation with her professional partner, Leonardo Lini, and is among the favourites to go all the way in the RTÉ extravaganza.

It would just be the latest achievement for the daughter of Ballyouskill farmers Noel and Siobhán.

The majority of the Cummins land is in Co Kilkenny but they have some inside the Laois border too.

The cheek-by-jowl nature of the boundary is illustrated by the fact that Cummins plays camogie for Ballyragget, and won two Kilkenny titles at underage level with Lisdowney, but represented Laois in The Dome last August. So she will be keeping an eye out on the fortunes of both counties when the Centra Camogie Leagues get under way tomorrow.

Camogie has proven invaluable in terms of preparing Cummins for other aspects of her live, not least in these last few weeks in Dublin.

“You have a sort of a mindset that you know there’s a goal at the end, that you know you have to win, or you have to score a goal, or you have to score a point, but you’re always pushing through right up until the end of the match,” says Cummins.

“And I suppose that kind of comes into play with the dancing as well. From start to finish of those 90 seconds, you’re just going hell for leather from the very moment that song has started.”

Nothing is possible without the people sharing the dressing room with you.

“It is teamwork. With every dance, there’s always a connection point between the two of us, whether it’s our stomachs held together for our ballroom position, or holding hands or having a facial connection. There’s always an element of teamwork. And without the partner, you can’t create the dance.”

The fitness also goes hand-in-hand but there was a considerable fly in the ointment in that regard for Cummins.

“I play with Ballyragget. That’s where I went to primary school and that would be my dad’s club growing up. I went to secondary school in Ballinakill, which is where the Laois connection comes in and where I have so many friends. “Ballyragget didn’t have underage teams when I was growing up so I played for Mullinavat underage and we won county titles at U14, U16 and minor. But I am back now at adult level with Ballyragget and love it.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to play camogie for the past year. I went to a Tumbling Paddies concert, I was jiving and I ended up tearing seven ligaments across both my ankles. Then I got selected for Laois for the Rose Of Tralee. And then I had all the Rose events every weekend. So my time for camogie had dwindled and my fitness was really bad so I haven’t been able to get back to the camogie since.

“But I will when my Rose commitments finish. My sister Molly and I play for the same team. She’d be a very skilful player, and we enjoy playing together and driving to training together. There’s a great social aspect of seeing my friends as well, so I will be back. 100%.”

The ankles have stood up well to the exertions of the past month and the intensive training during the week. And the experience is one she is enjoying wholeheartedly.

“I love every second of it. It’s an amazing experience. I’m just so grateful for it. I didn’t think a million years after Tralee that I would be back on television again so soon! Everyone is so supportive. It is a competition but we are all encouraging one another.

“Rehearsals are intense enough, but it’s enjoyable, seeing the progress from the start of the week on a Monday to the end of the week. It’s amazing. You just want to do your best, whatever that is. And it’s like camogie that way too. Do your best and you can do no more.

“I love the element of the new dances every week. Leonardo is very creative. He has an amazing creative mind for choreography that is up to a high standard. And he pushes me to be able to reach that standard as well. It’s very empowering.

“The dancing has been my biggest challenge as you’re putting yourself so far outside of your comfort zone. And it’s very emotional. I don’t express emotion that well, and that has been my biggest challenge so far with the dancing.”

She was flabbergasted by winning the Rose Of Tralee and again, the support was incredible.

“The people I’ve met, things I’ve been doing and places I will be going to over the coming seven months ahead, are just beyond what I ever thought would be in my future as a 21-year-old. And the friends I made down there too, friendships that will continue.”

She has been able to postpone her apprenticeship with Alpha Drives. Being an electrician may be a male-dominated profession but Cummins has never felt any different, no more than she does for needing a hearing aid.

“I got the call back in September for Dancing with the Stars, and I rang my boss, John Dwan, that evening, and I said, ‘Look, can I have a meeting with you tomorrow?’ And he said, ‘That sounds very serious!’ When I went in, I said I might have to take the year out of my apprenticeship and he just said, ‘Yeah, work away. Absolutely no problem.’ And the moment I won Laois Rose, they were just there for me 100% and I couldn’t have asked for a better work crew.

“My dad has been a massive influence on me growing up. I suppose it stems from having a hearing disability as well, but I’ve been told that I can do whatever I want, no matter what.

“And when I was doing work experience in TY, I didn’t know what I wanted only I didn’t want to go to college. And Dad said, ‘Why don’t you try an apprenticeship?’ He signed me up with a local electrician down the road, JJ O’Sullivan, and I had the best week of my life. And I decided from that moment on that that was my career.”

Always a bright spark, you might say.