Keith Higgins () is an Irish sportsman. He has played both

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

and

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

for

Mayo GAA The Mayo County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) () or Mayo GAA is one of the 32 County board (Gaelic games), county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Mayo and the Mayo county teams. The M ...

, the former until his retirement in January 2021. He also plays both sports for his club

Ballyhaunis Ballyhaunis () is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is at the crossroads of the N60 and N83 National secondary roads and on the railway line linking Dublin to Westport and Ballina. Ballyhaunis is within both the Roman Catholic and civil pa ...

. In 2006, he was the

All Stars Young Footballer of the Year The Gaelic Athletic Association, GAA & Gaelic Players Association, GPA All Stars Young Footballer of the Year (often called the All Stars Young Footballer of the Year, or simply Young Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given at the end o ...

. He also

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

ed both the Mayo under-21 football and hurling teams to All-Ireland Championships. Injury ruled him out of the 2007 championship. Higgins also represented Mayo at senior level in both codes, played for

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

in hurling's

Railway Cup The GAA Interprovincial Championship () or Railway Cup (''Corn an Iarnróid'') is the name of two annual Gaelic football and hurling competitions held between the provinces of Ireland. The Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster GAA teams are co ...

, winning a medal in 2005, while in 2014 he became the first Connacht player to win football and hurling Railway Cups after Connacht won a first title since 1968. Hurling is his first love. He plays it for Ballyhaunis. In 2005, Higgins won a

Christy Ring Cup The Christy Ring Cup () is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the third-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is ...

All Star while playing for the Mayo county team. In 2008, he was nominated for the

Player of the Year award. Higgins was voted as the Cadbury's Hero of the Future in 2006. During Mayo's 2011 NFL campaign, Higgins received praise for his outstanding performances in right half back. Higgins retired from inter-county football in January 2021. However, he expressed the wish to continue playing hurling for Mayo. He was revealed as Mayo hurling team captain in May 2021.

Honours

;Football *

Connacht Senior Football Championship The Connacht Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Connacht Championship and shortened to Connacht SFC, is an annual Gaelic football competition for the senior county teams of Connacht GAA. All of the county teams of Connacht particip ...

(8): 2006, 2009, 2011–2015, 2020 *

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(1):

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Connacht Under-21 Football Championship The Connacht GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Connacht Under-20 Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Connacht GAA, Connacht Council of the Gaelic Athletic Assoc ...

(1): 2006 *

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship The GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the EirGrid GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association ...

(1): 2006 *

(1): 2014 *

Sigerson Cup The Sigerson Cup is the trophy for the premier Gaelic football championship among Higher Education institutions (Universities, Colleges and Institutes of Technology) in Ireland. It traditionally begins in mid January and ends in late February. T ...

(1): 2005 *

GAA GPA All Stars Awards The Gaelic Athletic Association-Gaelic Players' Association All Stars Awards (often known simply as the All Stars) are awarded annually to the best player in each of the 15 playing positions in Gaelic football and hurling. Additionally, one play ...

(4): 2012–2014, 2017 *

All Star Young Footballer of the Year The GAA & GPA All Stars Young Footballer of the Year (often called the All Stars Young Footballer of the Year, or simply Young Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given at the end of the Championship season to a young footballer aged 21 y ...

(1): 2006 ;Hurling *

All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship The All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship was a hurling competition organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland. The competition was originally contested by the second teams of the strong counties, and the first teams of the weaker ...

(1): 2003 *

Connacht Junior Hurling Championship The Connacht Junior Hurling Championship is a junior "knockout" competition in the game of Hurling played in the province of Connacht in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Connacht Council. The winners of the Connacht Junior Hur ...

(1): 2003 ** National Hurling League Division 2B (1):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

* National Hurling League Division 3 (1):

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

(1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Nicky Rackard Cup The Nicky Rackard Cup (; often referred to as the Rackard Cup) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The cup forms the fourth-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Champi ...

(2):

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Hurler of the Year (1): 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Keith 1985 births Living people All Stars Awards winners (football) All Stars Young Footballers of the Year Ballyhaunis Gaelic footballers Ballyhaunis hurlers Champion 15 Awards winners Dual players Gaelic football backs Mayo inter-county Gaelic footballers Mayo inter-county hurlers 21st-century Irish sportsmen