“You see when we invest in sport, the reward – not just the athletes – the whole country gets and how it makes everybody feel. That needs to go up another level, it really does. And government and Sport Ireland need to look at that.
“Sport can change communities, it can bring people together. It changes people’s health, whether physical or mental. You don’t have to be an Olympic champion – but sport can make such an impact, especially in communities where kids can get into trouble.
“Sport teaches you about discipline, about respect, about following a plan, working on your own, working as part of a team. All of these things come from sport. The more we encourage young people to get involved in sport the brighter the future will be.” Former boxing world champion Bernard Dunne
A FEW weeks ago, we brought a group of 10 and 11-year-old girls to take part in the prestigious youth soccer tournament, the Foyle Cup, in Derry.
We were just one out of 700 competing teams and among 13,000 players that descended on the north-west to make some life-long memories on and off the pitch.
From the minute the parents and kids landed in Sainsbury’s car park early on the Monday morning, to taking part in the opening day parade through the streets of Derry, to the games themselves at Lisnael College and Wilton Park, to running around the hotel and bowling alleys, the entire week was one of the best experiences - sporting or otherwise - I’ve had or am likely to have.
And I can say with some confidence that the 10 kids – 10 footballers - we brought to take part in the competition feel the same.
For them, it was their World Cup.
I can also predict with some confidence that there’ll be a Foyle Cup reunion of Rosa, Aya, Éabha, Jess, Lara, Eve, Jasmine, Emma, Mya and Sophia in 10 years’ time.
It was a time when the love of the game was nurtured deep within them and the affection for each other grew probably without them even knowing.
As volunteer coaches, I knew our work was done once team-mates began celebrating the goals we scored as much as the person scoring them.
That was their Eureka moment, when we became a team in the truest sense of the word.
These kids were no longer a bunch of individuals operating in an inconvenient team environment. They were thriving in the collective.
It all unfolded in front of us – game after game for four unforgettable days.
The kids celebrated their wins and cried after their losses.
A coach can try and build team spirit – but the kids themselves create a more authentic, untouchable kind.
As any volunteer coach working at juvenile level knows, it can take a long time before you begin to see results.
Teams can go months on end and no discernible progress seems to be made. Teams can experience a spurt of development and then dip again.
You need a deep well of patience as the process can sometimes feel painfully slow. But then, sometimes without warning, the coaches and the kids themselves will experience incredible highs.
Wednesday night’s friendly game was one of those nights. We didn’t win the game - but in the youngsters, the coaches saw something bigger, more important.
Throughout the two periods of 23 minutes, the kids made a thousand selfless runs - a lot of those runs were simply to close down space to make it more difficult for their opponent, or to put a tackle in, or to help a team-mate.
It was as if they understood the theory of cause and effect, insofar as, ‘If I don’t make that 20-metre run, it will be tougher for my team-mate to defend.’
They’re understanding the value of the collective and what it takes to make it a better one.
This was their greatest triumph. Like flicking a switch, they realised all by themselves the importance of teamwork.
As Bernard Dunne alluded to in RTE’s coverage of the Olympic Games, sport has the endless capacity to make better people, better citizens.
Sport is a great teacher of discipline and motivation.
Sport gives communities social and psychological cohesion. With first-hand experience, I can see how team sport is the great giver in life.
It generally raises the esteem of children. It gives them a sense of belonging, a sense of identity, it creates strong bonds, it teaches resilience where they have to cope with disappointments. And it gives them confidence.
It helps them in transitional stages of their young lives too, whether that is going through the transfer test or moving to the big school, or simply having a difficult time in school or in their own lives.
They have all the varying experiences of playing sport to help them cope or adapt to changing circumstances. It gives them life skills.
For those who choose not to sign their kids up for sport, they don’t know what they’re missing.
The afterglow of the Olympic Games will soon fade – but programmes for government must put sport front and centre and realise its transformative impact on people and communities.
The GAA has commissioned a research project that is focussing on the economic impact of Gaelic Games in Ireland.
Led by the venerable Professor Simon Shibli of Sheffield Hallam University, the findings will be known in October.
This research is essential for the GAA going forward as it enables them to cite its contribution (health, social, sporting cultural etc.,) to communities up and down the country in tangible, fiscal terms and be commensurately funded.
Other sports bodies here need to do the same – produce relied-upon research – in order to improve their bargaining position beyond the sound-bites of just needing more cash.
We need to put a higher price on what exactly is occurring between those white lines when our children cross them because it’s more than just kicking a football around.