Every club has them but they can slip under the radar. So we thought we’d let them get some praise for a change
They are the people that make everything tick. Without them jerseys wouldn’t be washed. There would be no nets. There would be no post-match food. Simply put – many clubs would not exist without the unsung heroes who operate behind the scenes for little or no acclaim.
Well it’s time for these men and women of GAA clubs across the country to emerge from the shadows.
Ballyhale Shamrocks are in the midst of their preparation for yet another AIB GAA All Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship final. The men from Noreside face Kilmallock on March 17th at Croke Park and will hope for another successful day on the pitch.
One man who has been key to the club,without pucking a ball in anger is Sean O’Sullivan, who’s the club secretary but also very much the go-to man for everything and anything in the club.
Club hurler Liam Grant tells us about the man who, we’re told, shares a very close similarity to a Will Ferrell character.
“When you’re thinking of someone who is just Ballyhale through and through then you won’t find anyone that comes close to Sean. He is just unbelievable in combining a role as the secretary with a million other jobs around the club.
“It’s funny because he’s been an active member since the mid 2000’s but he’s a lifelong supporter and Ballyhale is just his number one. Even when he’s not involved in the backroom team anymore he’s going  to be going to games and supporting us. It’s in his blood.
“If you’re looking in from the outside he’s the secretary but he is so much more. He”s our kit man and I’d say his washing machine must be running green and white at this stage as he takes the jersey’s home and washes them too.
“Everything to do with gear Sean is involved in. If you want a Ballyhale hat he’ll sort you out. Â Not only that but if you’re stuck for a hurl or if you’ve cracked it at training then Sean will sort you out for a repair job on it. The pitch in Ballyhale is his little baby and he takes fantastic care of the grounds. I think if I was to describe him like someone in a film it would be the Will Ferell character in Semi Pro-just better looking.
“Every time you meet Sean you can just see the spark in his eyes that drives him on to do what he does for the club. Ballyhale is a key part of his life. He wants the club to have high standards and be successful off the field as well as on it. He sets those standards in what he does and he expects the players to do the same. Everything has to be right for Sean. As a a player you almost feel as if you’re leaving him down if you don’t give your best and 100% effort every time.
“My earliest memory of Sean would have been a good few years ago at this stage. I couldn’t put a year on it exactly because he is such a part of the furniture now but I think it was when he became the kitman with the seniors.
“I’d say he was the first man we ever saw bringing a box of bananas to training and the lads had some craic with him about it. That will tell you how long he’s been involved. As the kitman I’d say he must have given out about a few thousand grips at this stage. He is all about improving and seeing how things can be done better. That rubs off on players too.
“The club just means absolutely everything to him. He’s a super character too and he might kill me for bringing this up again but he got an awful slagging for what we might call an ‘administrative error’ one day. He was texting a player about a game but he got the wrong venue in the text and the player ended in in the other half of Kilkenny. He is such a perfectionist I’d say he checks and double checks every text message now. I think he was blaming autocorrect and we haven’t forgotten it anyway!
“If he had a motto I think it would be what he sometimes says to the lads ‘it’s hard to please everyone in a club, but if you please most of them you have to settle for that.’
“I think its pretty sound advice but to be honest I don’t anybody ever really has anything but good to say about Sean. He spends so much time here I think his wife has him on a missing persons list somewhere. I know that every club says that there are key people but really we would fall apart without Sean.
“His role as a fundraiser, especially now we’re heading to Croke Park is absolutely vital. The club has been really lucky to have been successful over the past 10 years and Sean has been unselfishly working behind the scenes without getting much recognition for his efforts. He’s like a sixteenth man on the team. Players and club people very much appreciate his efforts.”
For all those reasons (and many more besides), Sean O’Sullivan – and all the other unsung heroes out there – we salute you!
If you want to see Sean O’Sullivan in the flesh, and also watch Ballyhale Shamrocks take on Kilmallock in the AIB GAA All Ireland Club Championship final at Croke Park on March 17th, tickets are available here
