Regardless of what anyone says, the purpose of all sports is to win. I believe that those that don’t see winning as everything will fail to reach their potential.
The aim of every club in the country should be to create an environment which gives players and coaches the best opportunity to succeed on the pitch.
Good performances that resulted in defeat never satisfied me. I was lucky enough that I had a lot of good days playing for Tyrone, but bad days dominated my years at club level.
Despite my club Moy not having the best team in the county, I still didn’t view defeat as something that was acceptable.
There was always something me and the team could have done better.
Most sportspeople have that desire to constantly improve and striving to get better was always part of my make-up.
There is a considerable number of people who lament the so-called growth in a ‘win at all costs’ mentality in the game.
I see nothing wrong with a team doing everything within the rules of the game to be successful.
Whether it be playing with a greater focus on defence or training more than other teams, every team is entitled to do whatever gives them the best chance of success.
Why should anyone not do everything possible to succeed? Considering what I have already written, you will probably be surprised that my proudest day in a Tyrone jersey ended in defeat.
Winning All-Irelands were brilliant experiences and those days were the stuff of dreams. Although being proud of those achievements, some things have a greater meaning as they are about more than simply winning a game of football.
I only captained Tyrone once in Championship football and it proved to be my last game for the county.
Our defeat to Dublin in the 2011 All-Ireland quarter final probably signalled the end of that Tyrone team.
The reason I remember that day wasn’t because I was captain or for it being my last game.
It sticks out as I able to honour a great Gael from my own club.
One of the Moy’s great Gaels, Frankie Duffy (right), passed away the day before that match.
I wore a black armband that day along with my club-mates Sean and Colm Cavanagh to honour Frankie’s memory.
Frankie was the heart of the Moy club for as long as I could remember.
After his family, the club took precedence over everything else in his life.
Frankie never missed a game, was a hard-working committee member for years on end and had a collection of club memorabilia that was the envy of everyone.
He was just one of those people that would do anything for the club and its people. A Moy club person was one of his own.
Of course, Frankie was a huge Tyrone fan and was as happy as anyone to see the county winning All-Ireland’s in 2003, 2005 and 2008.
However, what really made it special for him was the contribution of Moy men in those three successes. I know how delighted he would have been to see me leading the team out in Croke Park and I was extremely proud to be able to honour his memory that day.
The wonderful thing about the GAA is that we really find out how important it is when football is not involved.
When a club person dies we see the support the family gets from their fellow club members.
Just last week Coilin Devlin spoke about the support his family got from the Ballinderry club after the death of his brother Aaron last year.
It serves as a reminder that GAA clubs are about more than putting teams out on the pitch. The importance of a club cannot be measured by goals and points or league positions.
My own club have gone through a difficult period over the last year. In September our clubrooms were subject to an arson attack and just last month there was another attack on a gym on our club grounds.
The first attack was hard to understand, but everyone in the community was shocked when it was repeated. The day before the first attack our club held a U10 tournament at our grounds.
There were 56 teams in attendance and over 550 players involved. The time and effort it takes to organise an event like this is huge and it is not just for our own players.
Clubs look after their own people, but they also do work that benefits the GAA as a whole. The GAA provides more than just the opportunity for players to be successful on the pitch.
Members have a sense of belonging to a community which is getting more difficult to find in the fast pace of modern life.
There is also the opportunity for people to learn skills that serve them well in other aspects of their life. I’ve no doubt that my involvement in the sport has enhanced skills that have served me well in my working life.
Discipline, team-work, leadership and hard work are all key traits that playing or coaching within the game will only enhance.
The club are determined to use the attacks as motivation to improve the facilities provided for our club members. A major fundraising campaign was launched after the first attack with the aim of financing an improvement of the facilities that were damaged eight months ago.
Those new facilities will provide our members with the best opportunity to be successful on the pitch. If we don’t win cups, we will still provide skills to our young people that will stand to them in the future.
The goodwill the club has received over recent months has been great to see.
Gaels from all over Ulster have and will continue to buy tickets to help us re-build our facilities. In times of adversity you find out how close the GAA community really is.
