Costello's class endures for Kerry footballers
It’s a testament to Costello’s quality that she’s still such a central figure for this Kerry team at the age of 35. The game at the highest level is a very different one now than it was when she made her debut in 2010, but she still has the athleticism and footballing nous to thrive.
“It’s changed massively,” says Costello. “Aside from the rules obviously, the new rules this year, but it's just the professionalism, the standards, the level of competitiveness, everything has changed.
“Obviously there was always fighting for a team, and there was always work rate and all that, but I just feel like the physicality has gone through the roof. The fitness, the athletic ability of people, it's just phenomenal at the moment.
“The way we're training and the way girls put it in week per week, and we could be out five days a week, and it takes a lot of time. There's a group of girls now, the younger girls, and it's amazing that that level of competitiveness and that standard is all that they know.
“That's the way we want it to be and we want it in another ten years to be up again. You want it to keep evolving and keep growing. It's great to see it and it's great to be able to keep pushing ourselves and keep pushing the standards across the board. It's fabulous.”
Costello wouldn’t still be playing so well at the highest level if she wasn’t a born competitor.
The game has changed a lot but she loves pushing herself to her limit in order to rise to he challenge.
“Oh definitely," she says. "You see girls who are probably closer in age to Mollie than me on the team and it's great to be able to push myself and just see that I can still do it.
“Obviously I take a lot longer to recover and things like that now, but you just push yourself to see where you can go I suppose. I'm delighted that the body is still going okay at the moment anyway.”
Costello still has the natural athleticism to compete with women 10 or more years younger than her, but she also feels like the experience accrued over the course of her career allows her to add value in other ways.
“I definitely don't get as nervous as I used to and my preparation is very consistent," she says.
“I like the same routine, I go to bed early, all these things that, I suppose I've zoned in on a lot of that stuff. You just know what suits you and what doesn't suit you more so I suppose.
“I'm glad then to help some of the younger girls too. If they're maybe a bit more nervous you can kind of have a bit of craic with them and try to lighten the mood.
“I feel that I can maybe bring that to the table too. Because I'm not getting as nervous as others I'm able to maybe lighten the mood across the board or just bring different elements to it that you maybe didn't have before.”
