Laois footballer John O’Loughlin sums up perfectly why we all play sport

Winning in GAA isn’t easy; anyone who plays it knows that.

Winning at any level is hard but winning a Leinster Championship if you’re not Dublin seems like a near impossible task these days. The boys in blue have won the Delaney Cup every year since 2011, leaving the rest of the province for dead. Laois are one of those counties that have watched Dublin romp to the title every year; they haven’t won it since 2003. John O’Loughlin wasn’t playing for his county’s senior side back then and since he made the leap up to the senior squad in the late 2000’s he has been met with little to no success. It is obviously hard knowing that year-on-year the same team is going to run away with the title but O’Loughlin’s words put the whole thing into perspective. Speaking on the GAA Hour, he was asked how difficult it was to be part of a county side that used to realistically dream of winning in Leinster to one that knows there is a very slim chance of glory, it was all about the bigger picture for the St Brigid's man,

“Obviously I’d love to be as successful as I can with Laois, I get incredible enjoyment anytime I play for Laois. There’s nothing more I like doing. “I love playing for Laois and the way I see it is in maybe 10 years time or eight years time I physically won’t be able to able to play for Laois anymore and I’m going to have the rest of my life not being able to play for Laois so it is never ever going to be hard for me to tog out or represent Laois no matter where we’re at. “I get such enjoyment out of it and there’s going to be enough of my life where I can’t do it. “I’ll keep going for as long as I can and whatever I can give to Laois I’ll keep trying to give.”

Sometimes you have to remember that it really is about taking part.  You can listen to the full interview below starting from 20:50 https://soundcloud.com/sportsjoe-gaa-hour/john-oloughlin-interview-aidan-oshea-witch-hunt-full-fwd-line-tutorial