Caroline O'Hanlon talks balancing dual-sport demands and medicine ahead of Commonwealth Games

There are seldom few dual-sport athletes owing to the pressures of time constraints and demands to maintain fitness and form but Caroline O’Hanlon has never known any different, as she prepares to lead Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games in Australia.

As if playing domestically in the Vitality Superleague for Manchester Thunder wasn't enough, the 33-year-old centre also continues to play GAA in her homeland on a weekly basis. Her itinerary doesn't end there as O'Hanlon balances her commitments on the sports fields with her career as a trainee GP.

O'Hanlon, 15 years into her international netball career with Northern Ireland, is well known for her footballing prowess including her duties for Armagh, which has seen her play at the top echelons of the sport.

Netball was first included in the Commonwealth Games - the sport's pinnacle - in 1988 and next month's staging will be its eighth edition as O'Hanlon nears her second participation at the competition, following her first taste in Glasgow.

The biggest female sport has enjoyed greater prominence over the past decade but for the non-GAA aficionado, like myself, I am intrigued to learn more about the 33-year-old's first steps on her road to forging a successful career.

"I was exposed to both sports at an early age. Gaelic football where I live in Northern Ireland is massive and my family are heavily involved in the football club," O'Hanlon told Sky Sports, ahead of flying out to the Gold Coast.

"Netball was played in the schools that I went to so it was again a prominent part of my early sporting upbringing.

"When I was younger there was a clearer divide between the two seasons of the sport so Gaelic would have predominantly been played during the summer and then netball would have been played during the school year and over the winter.

"As things have gone on with tournaments like the Commonwealth Games and when the World Cup is in the summer it clashes but the peak of both seasons tends to be at different times of the year."

O'Hanlon's love and passion for both sports has remained undiminished throughout her career and she credits their "transferable skills" as a key reason for her ability to keep both going simultaneously.

"Both sports have transferable skills. The training for both complements each other," she said.

"Mentally they both help me because you are switching sports so you can have some distraction. The physicality of Gaelic has helped now with netball which has become more physical.

"If I have had a bad day at netball and go to football you have to forget about it because my football teammates aren't interested in how I was at netball."

Netball, thanks in part to the platform Sky Sports has given the game in recent years, has enjoyed a big boom in terms of profile and O'Hanlon says the next goal must be to attract interest in weaker regions.

"Sky has been absolutely crucial in the growth of the sport. The key is to try and promote it in the non-Commonwealth countries," O'Hanlon added.

"Television and social media is important because if people see the sport and appreciate it they will start playing. We have to continue to be positive ambassadors for the sport and try to promote it at every opportunity.

"The standard has increased within my playing career. There has been a massive improvement in terms of the physicality and the athleticism of the players in the game. We just need to continue that."

In recent years there have been calls for netball to be included by the International Olympic Committee as an Olympic sport but to no avail thus far - largely because of its status as a single sex game - but O'Hanlon prefers to focus on the positives that the Commonwealth Games provide.

"This is the world stage for netball. It is our opportunity to showcase our sport," she said.

"We haven't had that opportunity at the Olympics so it's important we show the game in the best light. It's an absolute honour that feeling of going to the Games as part of a wider squad.

"It's a unique experience and something which we really loved when we were in Glasgow. We are really looking forward to supporting the other sports that will be on show."

O'Hanlon, who shows no signs of burnout, then speaks of her post-playing career.

The hours [in my job as a GP] will give me a little flexibility to do other things which is why I love it.

"I haven't really thought about it at this moment in time," she admitted. "I don't have plans to go down the coaching road but I wouldn't completely rule it out either.

"The hours [in my job as a GP] will give me a little flexibility to do other things which is why I love it."

The never say never attitude is apt for someone who has packed the upmost into her career to date.

The Vitality Superleague returns on Sunday, April 22, with Wasps Netball in action against Team Bath. Coverage gets underway from 2.45pm on Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Mix, which you can find on channel 287, and is free for all Sky customers.

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