WHERE do you see yourself in five years’ time? As a person, an employee and a sportsman.
I am pretty sure almost all young up-and-coming GAA players would have a clear vision of their sporting pathway during this time.
As a person and employee, for at least half, this wouldn’t be on the radar. They’ll sort that out as they go along. What makes me so sure? Because I was a member of the group who had no plan.
When I finished fifth year in St Joseph’s High School, Crossmaglen, I moved onto the Abbey CBS, Newry. I had no idea what subjects I wanted to do, nor a career path I’d like to pursue. My motivation was purely the opportunity to play MacRory Cup football.
The new school and environment was a big culture shock to me, and neither the football nor the books worked out and I ended up leaving school for full-time employment at the age of 17. It didn’t bother me though, as the only thing that mattered to me that year was making the county minor team and breaking onto the Crossmaglen senior panel.
All I was focused on was the here and now. I couldn’t be told any different – my parents, teachers, career advisors all encouraged me to devote more time to my studies but I knew better. Football was my only passion.
As with a lot of things in my life, I got lucky with my first employment in the real world. I began working locally as a sales rep for a successful family-run business, Watters Electrical in Culloville.
During my four years working for the company, I learned how to behave and converse around my elders. It helped me mature as a person but looking back now, I regret not making the most of the opportunities I received to better myself in school.
In February last year, I took part in the AIR-commissioned documentary The Toughest Trade where former Tottenham and England soccer star David Bentley trialled life as a GAA player with my club Crossmaglen, while I was offered the opportunity to sample life as a professional soccer player for a week at Sunderland AFC.
I spent the week taking part in skills, fitness, gym and recovery sessions with their U21 squad while also attending a home Premier League game with their first team.
It was an amazing experience to sample life as a professional athlete. While enjoying lunch with the U21 squad in the club canteen, I got into a conversation with a number of their players.
They were all interested to find out about GAA. They couldn’t believe we were amateurs, working all day and training in the evenings. All but one of the squad had come through their youth academy – they knew nothing but the professional life.
Each one of them felt they needed to devote all their time into making the most of the opportunity afforded to them. Like me at their age, nothing else mattered.
Only one player, Duncan Watmore, understood the GAA lifestyle. Duncan was the only member of the academy to sign from a non-league club; he was used to training at night alongside men who had just completed a day’s work. He was also the only player who continued to study at third level education in the evenings while part of the Sunderland academy.
He felt he needed something to fall back on should a career in football not work out for him. That wasn’t surprising as the coaches informed me that, on average, only one in every 250 players passing through their academy will make a career for themselves as a professional footballer.
Duncan has certainly proved me wrong though and set a great example to others by proving its possible to be a success on and off the field with the right application.
He has become the first member of that squad to break into the Sunderland first team, becoming a regular in their matchday squad. He only recently signed a new four-year deal with the Black
Cats.
It took me a long time to appreciate that, to be successful in life off the field, I needed to show the same application and desire as I did on the field.
Having a profile through our sporting careers helps create opportunities with employment. But just like preparing for Championship, we need to show the same ambition in the workplace in order to earn respect from potential employers. They will in turn show more faith and trust in you as an employee or businessman.
The cushy jobs and company cars from the Celtic Tiger days are long gone. Employers want value for their financial investment in you – and rightly so. Upon their official recognition in 2010 as a GAA group, the GPA set about designing a comprehensive development programme to encourage and support players with their education, careers, health, life skills.
I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again, so towards the latter part of my inter-county career I made sure to avail of the services available to help me better myself in my working life now that I am self-employed. In particular, I worked on a one-to-one basis with their personal business development coach.
The few hours a month I spent at these meetings proved invaluable. They helped me to focus on my time management and develop a vision of where I see my company going in the future – something I wish I had done years ago.
Recently, I have been fortunate enough to take part in a number of GPA nationwide workshops where I visited university students to highlight the importance of striking the right balance between their sporting and academic careers.
There’s no doubt it is tough to fit it all in but, with the right preparation and focus, everything is manageable.
