Abbie Larkin honed her talents by kicking footballs off the walls of Ringsend.
Now the talented Shelbourne teen is on the cusp of a double and aiming to make a serious push for Vera Pauw's Republic of Ireland World Cup squad.
Larkin, 17, is the latest in a line of footballers from the Dublin inner-city suburb who've carved out good careers for themselves.
The likes of Sean Gannon, Kim Flood, Niamh Grant and Larkin's cousin Daniel Kelly all tread the same streets with a ball at their feet. And Larkin, who scored her first senior Ireland goal against Georgia back in June, is making her own mark on the Irish footballing landscape.
"I started hitting the ball off walls, good to get the touch going," she said.
"We didn’t have a football team in school... but I did play Leinster Schools in a great tournament when I was younger. And from there into Under-15s Ireland.
"It's been a great year for me. I think I’ve had a good season last year; I was only really trying to break into the team, even at the start of this season. But when I started to get my 90 minutes in, I was getting my confidence back and kind of being more myself on the pitch.
"And obviously with Ireland, my first goal and debut and all that. I think it has sunk in a bit but now I’m focused on the cup final."
Cousin Kelly has played in two cup finals with Dundalk. He lost one in 2019 but made amends a year later when they beat Shamrock Rovers 4-2 after extra time.
"I haven't spoken to him about his experience but I might do now!" Larkin smiled.
"He’s been a great role model for me, even in quarantine he would bring me out training and keep me fit. He was a great support to me. He’s out injured now but he’ll come back.
"We used to go to Clann na nGael’s football pitch to train. He’s come to our games, he’s a great supporter, his dad and brother come as well."
Shels were denied the double last year by Wexford Youths, who beat them 3-1 in the EVOKE.ie FAI Cup final. This year Athlone Town stand in their way. Having secured the league title with a nerveless 4-0 win against Wexford last week, the Reds are desperate not to stumble again.
"Last year we had a bit of a rough patch," said Larkin.
"We celebrated a bit too much before the cup final and didn't perform well at all. This year we want to put it up to Athlone and show them what we can do."
With the Leaving Cert coming up, followed by the summer's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, 2023 is going to be a big year for Abbie Larkin, who has already started doing her coaching badges.
She's calm about what the future holds - but not shy about airing her ambitions.
"Obviously, I’d like to pursue football in England, the WSL has been my dream. I’ve always wanted to do that and I could hope to fall back on coaching when I retire and stuff like that.
"I need to keep my head down, keep fit, train in off-season. I’ll definitely work harder than ever before. I want to be on that plane to Australia.
"Before seniors, I was a 'melter’ with kids my own age, I was annoying everybody. But then when I got involved with the seniors, I was a bit quiet. I didn’t really know any of the girls who were all older, so I was a bit quiet. I was a bit nervous and stuff like that.
"Then I broke into the team and my personality just came through. My personality hasn’t changed that much, I just have more confidence."
Watch the Women's FAI Cup final, Athlone Town v Shelbourne, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on Sunday from 2.30pm with live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 and follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app
