On a Friday night, at least one of our kids usually has a soccer match, and I sometimes have to have him on the other side of Belfast by 6pm, which means it's going to be a rush after work. Saturday morning is when the weekend sports diary really kicks in, there will be at least one other soccer match to be accommodated and my own weekly Queen's parkrun up at the Dub, either running the 5k and trying for a personal best, or taking my turn at volunteering and cheering on the hundreds to take part every week.
Friday afternoons and Saturdays go by in a flurry of Whatsapp messages to other parents as we arrange and share lifts in order to try and squeeze everything in and get the right kids to the right pitch on time. Even when doing parkrun I still like to make it to the boys matches, to cheer on them and their teams.
The usual Saturday chores and activities are sound-tracked by the radio in the background, helping me to keep up to date with premiership matches, hoping that one of these seasons Spurs will find a consistency which will actually lead to a trophy. In the early evening I will be displaying multi tasking skills, making dinner while simultaneously following soccer, GAA and often rugby if Ulster are playing, on radio, TV and social media. On Saturday evening, 10.30pm is Match of the Day (what else would you be watching?).
On Sunday the GAA kicks in fully. Our boys' matches and training are often in Belfast, very close to home but sometimes its a road trip to a County Down club or over to south Derry for a challenge game, and although it can be a logistical headache those are lovely, warm friendly occasions and we all love them.
When the kids are very young, not old to play competitive league football, there are countless tournaments all across Ulster, and further afield throughout the spring and summer. These can last all day and involve multiple games. Each blitz contains the joy of winning, the temporary heartache of losing and the carload of kids will have much to weigh up, laugh about and dissect over ice cream and treats on the way home. Those are very valuable hours and I like many others probably took them all for granted, but not any more.
We are at the time of year now when thoughts turn to the GAA Championship, planning attendance at matches, working out what weekend we will aim to get to a big game in Croke Park, and always, always finishing the weekend with The Sunday Game on RTE on Sunday evening. On top of the usual stable of sports, summer 2020 was to have included the Tokyo Olympics and Euro 2020 football championships. I mean, how good was all that going to be? It was a sport fans dream summer, and now its gone.
When the lockdown started the first weekend felt empty, and brought home exactly the scale of the role played by sport in the lives of many people, and that very much includes our household. Whether its spectating, supporting, coaching, participating, or ferrying carloads of kids back and forth, sport dominates the weekend, and we love it.
Now, four weeks in, we can still run within the government guidance, but alone, so no big meet ups at an unearthly hour for long training runs. Driving past a quiet and locked up GAA or soccer pitch, which would usually be buzzing, loud and radiating positivity, is actually a little bit heartbreaking.
There is of course an economic downside to the loss of sport. In the professional arena governing bodies are trying to work out if, how and when the interrupted season can be completed and it is likely that towards the end of the summer some games might be played, even if it is behind closed doors.
In the GAA world the big question is whether the championship can take place at all in 2020 and unfortunately it increasingly looks like it may not. Gaelic football or hurling behind closed doors seems unnatural to me, it would be better to scrub the season and aim for 2021.
But we will be guided by those in authority who will only sanction a return to playing when it is deemed safe and appropriate. If Government support is needed to protect sports bodies it should be forthcoming. Sport helps communities breathe and will be one of the ways we reconnect with each other on the other side of coronavirus.
In the meantime we are learning patience. My sons' Gaelic club coaches send out weekly training drills and reading material, my running buddies swap details of our runs on a very busy Whatsapp group, and let's face it, as a Spurs supporter born in Antrim, sporting patience is not really a new concept to me!
I write all of this fully aware of the real heartache and tragedy that far too many families are experiencing, and of the super-hero efforts of our healthcare workers, in hospitals, Covid-19 centres, care homes and in the community. We salute them all and the sooner they can call full time on coronavirus the better for everyone. Stay safe everyone.
:: Brendan Mulgrew is managing partner at MW Advocate (www.mwadvocate.com).
:: Next week: Paul McErlean
