​Paris Olympics on Track for Beibhinn

 
Local Women’s Rugby superstar Beibhinn Parsons is on track to make history, becoming our town’s first Olympian at the Paris Olympics in summer 2024 when she and the Irish Women Seven’s Squad sealed an Olympic qualification after defeating Fiji 10-5 at the France Sevens in Toulouse recently.
 
As a Creagh NS student, Beibhinn started her career playing for the Ballinasloe RFC's Mixed Under-11s, being only one of two girls to play for the team. The prodigy athlete then led her team at Ardscoil Mhuire to glory with an All-Ireland Girls Sevens title and at the young age of 16 was the youngest player, male or female, to make her international debut for the Irish Rugby Football Union. Beibhinn played wing for Connaught with Blackrock College RFC, and followed with her current involvement in the Irish Women Sevens team.
 
She is now preparing with her team in anticipation for the Rugby Sevens Competition next year, taking place at the Stade de France in Paris.
 
Beibhinn found that, throughout her years in the sport, her teammates acted as her main sources of inspiration, including her Ballinasloe Seven’s colleague Aoibheann Reilly. Furthermore, throughout her upcoming years, the senior girls she trained with helped inspire her love and passion for the game.
 
Prior to the latest World series, she and her teammates trained extensively at the IRFU high performance center. She is apparently “living on cloud nine” following their victory, with this triumph bringing her one step closer to living her childhood dream of being an Olympian.
 
Naturally the team’s primary goal is to come home with the gold medal, therefore they have returned to training as they always have at the IRFU performance center. The team will continue practicing throughout the year along with participating in some friendlies, with the Australian Women’s team set to arrive for some play-offs by the end of the Summer.
 
For the moment, Beibhinn hopes to keep things simple, with nothing much changing in her day-to-day life. Although the prospect of being an Olympian is a personal dream of hers, the humble athlete will only accept the prestigious title after the big competition next year. 
 
Along with her Rugby career, Beibhinn tries to keep up her studies at Dublin City University. Currently she is engaged in her first year in Communications, finding radio and podcasting to be very interesting. The undergraduate studied Biomedical Science for two years but felt it was too demanding to maintain both her intensive studies in medicine and her professional career in Rugby. “This year has been very difficult”, reported Beibhinn, “but the University has been very helpful and understanding for my unique circumstances”.
 
One of her primary reasons for staying motivated and perusing the sport is the idea of her acting as an idol for young girls in the locality and beyond. “Just the thought of being a role model for them brings me joy” Parsons shared. Beibhinn was only recently appointed as the Ambassador for Coral Leisure, being an ideal representative for the sports company brand spanning nine locations nationwide.
 
Next up for the Sevens team is their three-week Euros tournament, along with their Hamburg Championship Series taking place this June. For the moment, it is back to routine  for Beibhinn, training as she always has and representing Women’s Rugby at home and abroad.