NEW boots, new shorts and they were ready to go… A few years ago two young bulls were unleashed onto our football field and I can remember them coming tearing out onto the pitch for their first training.
Almost-identical twins, they had been placed in foster care with a local lady and she brought down to the club to help them integrate into the community.
By the end of that session they were well on their way to doing that.
There was a raw athleticism about the pair of them but it did take a while for them to pick up the skills of the game. For their first couple of seasons they’d have been corner-backs or hard-tackling wing-backs and they wouldn’t have had much confidence with the ball in their hands. But after Covid, by which time they’d reached their early teens, they came into their own and just took off.
They didn’t miss training and when the coaches spoke they listened intently, they led the sprints, they brought energy to the drills, they tackled hard and laughed even harder with their team-mates over an ice-lolly when the training and the games were done.
They got sharper and stronger and one became a fixture at centre half-back and the other played in midfield but you could easily have swapped them and played them anywhere they were needed because they’d give you all they had.
One evening we were playing against a well-known club in the league up at their pitch and a lad in the opposition team, who was developing a reputation for himself as a good schools’ player, decided to mix it with one of the twins.
He quickly realised that he had messed with the wrong Marine that night and soon found both of them in his face and they weren’t backing down. Yes, we won that game.
At the end-of-season awards last Christmas, the twins were named joint Players of the Year and it was typical of them that they were almost as delighted with the selection boxes they received as they were with the trophies.
So I’ve seen the influence a foster carer’s home combined with the GAA community can have on the life of a child. More carers are needed and Ulster GAA recently announced a partnership with HSCNI Foster Care to appeal to the sporting community to think about fostering and the positive impact it can have on young people and the communities they come from.
One of the enduring images of Cullyhanna’s recent All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship victory was of captain Pearse Casey lifting the cup at Croke Park as his proud dad beamed with delight in the stand behind him.
His father saw at firsthand the sacrifices and dedication it took to win a championship and knew the level of support from family and community winning a major title requires. It was a photo for the ages and a picture which illustrates perfectly what anyone can achieve when they have the right people in their corner.
The close knit community of Cullyhanna were united as one that day and the symbolism of Pearse lifting the trophy with his dad weeping tears of joy behind him wasn’t lost on staunch Cullyhanna supporters Des and Maura Conlon who are encouraging Gaels to consider becoming foster carers.
Maura said: “We are a small club but a huge community and the families and the friendships we have forged together contribute hugely to our success.
“A club is made up of more than the teams. Many of the coaches have had involvement with players from childhood and have had really positive influences on them, not only as players, but also as young people.
“We recognise that not all children have the same opportunity to be part of something like this and at times like this we should be thinking of those young people. It would be a wonderful legacy of our victory if other Gaels thought about fostering.”
Sport is at the core of every community across Ireland and in every community there are children and young people who are reliant on foster care.
According to the latest Children’s Social Care statistics from the Department of Health there are 3,801 looked after children in the North, of these 83 per cent (3,155) are living with a foster carer. This is the highest number of children and young people in care since the introduction of the Children (NI) Order in 1995.
The latest figures show there were 2,562 HSC Trust recruited foster carers in Northern Ireland and a further 265 independent sector carers.
During 2022/23, 555 households received fostering information packs from HSC Trusts, 590 initial home visits were carried out and 398 fostering assessments were completed. However, in the same period 419 foster carers de-registered.
Cullyhanna skipper Pearse Casey wasn’t fostered himself but he is an enthusiastic supporter of the scheme: “The support we received from family, friends and our community was instrumental in helping us win at Croke Park.
“This is something that all young people deserve to have in their lives. I would encourage sporting families who can offer this kind of experience and inclusiveness to think about fostering.
“Through fostering you can literally change the life of a young person and help them realise their own dreams.”
Melanie Coffey, senior manager for Fostering and Adoption in the Southern Area, emphasised the desperate need right across the North for more foster carers to come forward.
“Partnerships between HSCNI and sports bodies can be very powerful,” she said.
“Sports clubs and organisations are invested in promoting the wellbeing of the young people who play for them and this aligns perfectly with the work of HSCNI.
“Our carers are ordinary people who are minded to consider how they can make a positive difference in the lives of young people. Fostering is such a worthwhile thing to do and requires people who are thoughtful and kind.”
HSCNI Foster Care has revealed one of the current challenges is the need for sibling foster care placements. At present a large number of siblings have to be separated across a number of homes.
If you are interested in hearing more about becoming a foster carer, call HSC NI Foster Care on 0800 0720 137 or visit https://adoptionandfostercare.hscni.net/