Caolan Ward
Caolan Ward (born 18 August 1992) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for St Eunan's and the Donegal county team. When first called up for Donegal in 2016, he was based in Carlow and travelled from there to train with the team; by 2018 he had relocated to Monaghan. By 2019, he had returned home to work as a personal trainer at Donegal Strength and Conditioning Gym in a little area called Milford. Education. Ward is from Letterkenny. He attended St Eunan's College, where he played for the school team and learned to "kick the  high ball in low" from team trainer Neil "Flash" Gordon. He later studied at IT Carlow and also played for their team. Ward was a member of Letterkenny Athletic Club until his late teens, where he competed against and relayed with Mark English, before focusing on his football. Ward's father, Anthony, trained Ward at the local athletic club. Ward specialised in the long jump and was Ireland's best at under-9 level in 2001 and under-13 level in 2004. Playing career. Club. Ward started as his club won the 2014 Donegal Senior Football Championship, dethroning defending champions Glenswilly in  the final. He later won the 2021 Donegal Senior Football Championship with his club, also starting the final. Inter-county. Ward played for the Donegal minor team in 2011. He grew up playing at half-back, which he has said is his preferred position; however, he has been used further back in a marking role for his county. He watched the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final from Croke Park's Upper Davin Stand. First featuring for his county at senior level under the management of Rory Gallagher, Ward was first called up ahead of the 2016 season, the  eldest of twelve new recruits and travelling from Carlow to train with the team. He appeared as a late substitute against Mayo in the 2016 National Football League at MacCumhaill Park. That one minute, as well as injury time, was his total game play for Donegal in the 2016 season. Ward made his first league start for Donegal against Kerry in the opening fixture of the 2017 at O'Donnell Park (his club's home ground), completing the full match. He made his championship debut against Antrim in the quarter-final of the 2017 Ulster Senior Football Championship. By contrast, Patrick  McBrearty (who is slightly younger than Ward) had reached a century of appearances for Donegal by the time Ward started an All-Ireland quarter-final in 2019. He started the 2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifier defeat of Meath at Páirc Tailteann. He then started the qualifier loss to Galway at Markievicz Park. Ward continued to feature for his county under the management of Declan Bonner. He made a second half substitute appearance against Fermanagh in the final of the 2018 Ulster Senior Football Championship, claiming his first Ulster senior title. He had earlier started, and scored a point  in, the preliminary round defeat of Cavan. He started the quarter-final defeat of Derry. He also started, and scored a point in, the semi-final defeat of Down. Ward appeared in the four 2019 Dr McKenna Cup matches that Donegal played. He then began Donegal's first six matches in the 2019 National Football League when others were out injured, before losing his place in the team when they returned. He made a late appearance against Cavan in the final of the 2019 Ulster Senior Football Championship, claiming his second title. He made another late appearance against Meath in  the following game. Then he got to play at Croke Park in the 2019 All-Ireland quarter-final match against Kerry when the likes of Neil McGee and Eoghan Bán Gallagher were injured, leaving Donegal lacking their first-choice back line. He spent much of the game competing against Paul Geaney. He scored a goal against Monaghan in the 2020 National Football League on 1 March. However, the COVID-19 pandemic then brought all competition to a halt and, upon resumption in October, Ward's only part in the first game back (against Tyrone) was as a late substitute. Caolan Ward