He is one of the most successful captains Mayo have ever had on the football field, yet he is still only 20 years of age. This time three years ago, Stephen Coen was preparing to lead the Mayo minors out on to Croke Park in the All Ireland minor final against Tyrone, in the 36 months that have passed since then he has captained Mayo to win that minor final, kicked the insurance score in the Sigerson Cup final this year, lined out for his club in an All Ireland final back in Croke Park, and at the end of the spring he captained the Mayo U21s to the All Ireland title in Cork.
Even at a young age Coen was marked out as a future leader of Mayo on the football field and it has all gone as well as it could so far for the UCD student. But what do we know about him away from the field, well the pastures of south Mayo is where he spends a fair bit of time when he's not on the more evenly mowed fields of the county. When we sat down with him we asked him that question, who is Stephen Coen away from the game and what does he do? "Ah, now that's the hard question. I suppose I'm very involved in agriculture. We've a farm at home and I'm studying agricultural science in UCD, and sure I like to hang out with my friends when I can like anyone. It's beef and sheep, it's not too big. I wouldn't be dragged out that early in fairness to my brother and father, they do most of the work on it and they've not been expecting me to do too much on it, this time of year especially."
Even if he is getting a bit of special treatment with this Sunday coming up, Coen finds the whole farming and agricultural life a nice escape to clear the head, he said. "Ah, it's nice for me, it's kind of a switch off too for me to be able to get away from it for a while out there." As for the age old cliche that the farming life hardens a young fella up, there's a bit of truth to that he went on to say, "Yeah," he laughs, "that could be a bit of a myth, but it kept me honest and taught me how to work hard, but football is huge in the family so it was there too to toughen me up."
As for the future when he finishes college he does see his future somewhere in the agricultural world, which could lead him anywhere really. "I'm not too sure, there's always an interest in maybe doing veterinary but I don't know if that'll still be the aim. You can always look to getting involved as an agricultural advisor, but we'll see where the future brings. The whole nation is heavily dependent on it more so than some imagine, and it's where we could see a lot of good jobs coming on stream in the future."
Making the step up
Coen went straight from the minors into the Mayo senior set up the following year, he has enjoyed the step up and it's something he always wanted to do, he explained. "It was always the plan, as it would be for any ambitious young fella playing for Mayo you want to be going to a senior final. If you're playing minor or U21 football for Mayo you should want to be playing senior football, and if they don't they shouldn't be there in my opinion. But, it's a great honour for me to be involved in this group, guys who I've looked up to since I was four or five, and great to be able to play with them now and hopefully get over the line with them now."
He started the first two championship games this year for Mayo, but has since had to make do with a role from the bench, but Coen is ready and willing and working to try to get the nod for Sunday. "Ah you know if someone is going well you have to pay respect to that, no one is sitting in a spot and comfortable where they are, everyone wants to keep improving and I firmly believe that if I play well enough I'll be rewarded for the way I play, but everyone thinks the same. In fairness to Stephen and the management team, they have brought a real honesty to the group and anyone knows they could play and everyone believes they will play, and nobody is safe, and it's great to have that honesty among the group, and if we can keep that on the training field in the build up it will have us in good stead.
"If I get on, because I'm starting or I'm coming off the bench or I don't get on at all. Anything I can do to help the team and get us over the line I'll do. I suppose I've been very lucky in that I've played with great footballers and teams and that's the lucky side of it. But it's all about keeping up the winning mentality."
Running down a dream
It has been a long year for Coen with extended runs with the club, college, U21s, and now senior team. This will be his fourth national final this year and he is looking to pick up his third national medal on Sunday in nine months. "Yeah not a bad record, it's all about getting performance and working hard over the few weeks in the build up. You can talk about those finals but it's the same recipe, work hard and hopefully it will get us over the line."
As for tiredness after such a hectic schedule, there's none of that creeping into him just yet as you could imagine. "You won't be tired with games like this coming up. The likes of Barry Solan and Conor Finn have been excellent and made sure that my load hasn't been too heavy. Anyone who has had to play a lot of football, has been looked after so, from that side of things recovery is not an issue. When you've been successful, the more you want and the more hungry you are to win. So it's nice to have that, but Sunday is what it's all about."
And finally as for nerves before the game, there is only one reason for nerves and that is a good reason he explained. "I think the main reason nerves come in is that you put yourself under so much pressure, I think every player does that and I'm always putting myself under pressure to try and make myself improve. Every player is the same and you have those feelings going into every game."
If things go the right way on Sunday, this young Hollymount-Carramore man will complete the full collection of All Ireland winners' medals at inter county level all before he turns 21, not too bad at all.
