It has been a busy few weeks for Mid Ulster Ladies captain Hannah Turkington – one of the Danske Bank Women’s Premiership stars whose sporting talents are not limited to football.

The 27-year-old played a key role for dodgeball side Crossfire Cheetahs in their Northern Ireland Women’s Super League last month, while she is also tasting top-flight football for the first time.

Turkington, who has been at Mid Ulster since her school days, captains her teams in both sports and she has represented Northern Ireland at European Championships across the continent.

“It’s funny, because the core principles are entirely different – as in dodgeball you are obviously using your hands and moving out of the way of the ball,” she explains.

“But there are so many other parts of the sports which go together and not just in terms of fitness.

“Communication and teamwork are obviously crucial, but tactics and strategies too – so there are transferable skills with sports that are entirely different.”

The multi-talented Turkington began her dodgeball career while playing volleyball at Queen’s University; there was a charity dodgeball event on the court and she subsequently joined the Belfast-based Crossfire side.

Now Turkington is starring in both sports but she does not take anything for granted, having broken her foot and ruptured ligaments in 2017, requiring surgery and causing her to sit out of all sport – including international dodgeball tournaments - for over 18 months.

“When you are sitting on the sidelines its torture, although there were silver linings with that which I never realised at the time,” the defender added.

“There are things which you see when you are watching games – both of football and dodgeball – which you would never see when you’re actually in the match.

“I learned so much during that time from watching both games and then when I finally returned from injury, I could put that into practice.

“But since then, you definitely are more motivated to be involved in every training session and every match you have.”

Yet just as with dodgeball, her football career started more through chance than design – she began life as a winger before an unlikely set of circumstances saw her revert to her current position.

“We were playing in a cup final and one of our central defenders got injured, so in that emergency I moved back to that position, she explains. “And I have been there ever since - I must have done a good enough job on the day!”

Turkington joined Mid Ulster when she was just 16 and has now been at the club for over a decade, and her role is not limited to just playing.

“I had only played a little bit of football in school then one day Ruth Bell – who used to play for the club – was taking a session and she told me to try out for the club in Cookstown,” she adds.

“Now I’m helping coaching the little dribblers and Under-9 side we have on Monday evenings so you are immersed in the club and seeing the next generation coming through.

“There is a real family feel about Mid Ulster – we all want to give back to the club, there is a group of us in the senior squad who double up as coaching with the younger girls.”

This is Mid Ulster first ever top-flight campaign and whilst that was inevitably going to bring its challengers, the team are showing signs of an improvement.

Only a stoppage time equaliser from Derry City Women earlier in the season prevented them from turning their first Premiership point into three while they twice took the lead last time out against Crusaders Strikers.

Speaking ahead of a vital game against fellow newly-promoted side Lisburn Ladies this week, Turkington added: “We are not afraid of the challenge, we are learning every week and taking a little bit into each game.

“You can see the improvements week by week, with the players getting experienced against the bigger teams and the players are growing in confidence little by little.”

Mid Ulster Ladies have produced no shortage of talent: current Glentoran Women’s trio Samantha Kelly, Casey Howe and Chloe McCarron are all Northern Ireland internationals who came through their ranks.

Northern Ireland international goalkeeper Jacqueline Burns and star forward Simone Magill also began their careers at the club, as did Linfield Ladies striker Rebecca Bassett.

“There is a really strong development centre at the club and now we have a reserve team, so there is a pathway right from the start through to the senior squad,” Turkington explained.

With their Danske Bank Women’s Premiership status, the club are now enjoying an exciting period of time to showcase their talents against international-standard sides on a weekly basis.

Turkington has already tasted success on the court this year and she is now hopeful of captaining Mid Ulster Ladies to a memorable debut campaign at the top table of women’s football in Northern Ireland.