Stephen Carolan, a work colleague in Mayo County Council, called me a few weeks ago to arrange a chat with me to discuss the topic ‘Mayo GAA as a stimulator of economic activity’. I am struggling a little to come up with some ideas yet I would welcome the chance to sit and discuss the issue due to the importance of the topic. I think the best way to come up with some initiatives is to pull those interested in making a contribution into a room for an hour or two to discuss. It is amazing to think what might come out of such a discussion like that when like minded individuals get around a table. It is a crucial issue in the current situation we find ourselves in as there is a real danger that we will lose some of our finest players to emigration.
I am reminded of a conversation I had with Ger Geraghty, arguably the finest player to depart our shores in the mid eighties. I remember we were overnighting in some hotel close to the border before some national league match. We were chatting about work and the lack of jobs for young people at that time. Ger told me he was labouring on some building site close to home. I knew he wasn’t happy, the money wasn’t great, and it was the middle of winter when the weather was at its worst for this type of work. He suggested that if he couldn’t pick some alternative employment in the near future he would have no option but to head for the US. Ger, of course, did leave and as most of you know he was the finest Gaelic footballer in Chicago for a decade or more. He was a huge loss to Mayo football. I recall a big effort being made in 1989 to try to get him home for the All Ireland final. It didn’t happen and we can only speculate what might have happened had he returned. When I took charge of the Clare football team in 1990 I set about establishing a committee of fairly influential people that I could call upon to try to get employment for Clare footballers if they happened to be unemployed. It worked brilliantly well and a few players were placed in employment who would otherwise have emigrated. We are once more in a similar situation with job losses and unemployment figures surpassing those of the seventies and eighties. That is why now, more than ever, we in the GAA need to rally the troops to look after our own as much as possible. If there are any geniuses out there with a brainwave of any kind I suggest you contact Stephen Carolan or submit your ideas to [email protected]
Dedication from the coach and from the players
A number of people have enquired from me who this guy Ed Coughlan, the current strength conditioning coach for the Mayo footballers, is. Liam Moffett alerted me to Coughlan last Christmas when we were looking for someone to freshen things up a little in Crossmolina. Coughlan completed a sports science degree at DCU a few years ago. He is currently completing a PhD in a sports related science programme at John Moore University in Liverpool. He is from St Finbarr’s in Cork, and is a former footballer. We flew Coughlan over on three occasions last year to introduce some new programmes to our lads in Crossmolina. We found him to be very good, hugely enthusiastic, and possessing enormous energy. He didn’t mind putting in the hours when he travelled over. In fact I recall one particular Saturday he met with his first group of players at 8am and he was still going strong at 8pm. He introduced a variety of different sessions that were relevant for the modern Gaelic footballer. Our Crossmolina lads enjoyed doing his programmes and I believe the Mayo lads will ‘buy into’ his theories and ideas too. I suspect he will make a difference. In fact, I know he has already as a few are struggling to walk these days due to tight hamstrings. We should see the results in early spring.
I received a text from Crossmolina last Saturday night telling me that 16 senior club players had commenced training in our gym earlier that evening. These lads weren’t told or asked to resume training but a number of them took the initiative to send a text around in order to get the show back on the road. I am not sure if all or most clubs around the county are as dedicated but these lads are an amazing bunch and with that kind of an attitude, I wouldn’t write off their chances of landing a title of sorts next season.
Being grateful for what we have
Two weeks ago NUIG travelled to Dublin to play Queens in the Sigerson quarter final. I recognised the bus driver as an ex Army colleague. We chatted on the journey up and down. Sadly I since heard that he got a massive brain haemorrhage last week and passed away. He was only in his early fifties and leaves behind his wife and six children under the age of 12. Puts things in perspective.
