They do it for the love of the game.
When Diarmuid Connolly was on the GAA Hour earlier on in the year he said that everything he did, the hours put in, the sacrifices and commitments are all for the love of the game.
As he put it he wouldn’t be doing it if he didn’t enjoy it.
Connolly has probably worked harder than most to get to where he is, a two-time All Star as well as just the four All-Ireland titles under his belt and he’s done it all for absolutely nothing.
Although Connolly and other high profile players do their odd sponsorship obligations they earn most of their income from normal jobs and work tirelessly to achieve in a sport solely for the love of it.
The cold winter training sessions, the miles run, missing out on nights out, strict diets and summers spent in Ireland playing championship.
Most players wouldn’t trade it for the world, there is something about the GAA that is unlike any other sport, the community and comradery of it all, knowing everyone is in it together and knowing there is no big lucrative reward at the end.
One of GAA’s most loyal servants is Niall McNamee, he burst onto the scene for Offaly back in 2003 around the time he was sitting his Leaving Cert.
The Rhode man has had plenty of club success but has been a victim of his circumstances when it comes to county, with all due respect to Offaly they aren’t a football stronghold.
But anyone that has seen McNamee play will also know just how good he is, a player that would walk into any team in the country and probably be thrown the captain’s armband too, he is a leader and is extremely talented.
At 31-years-old, McNamee has called it a day, he’d given Offaly his best years and no longer has anything to prove.
A busy man, McNamee has his own business and is looking forward to the future. It’s time to focus on his own professional career and see what life is like outside of inter-county commitments.
The former All-Star nominee was on the latest episode of the GAA Hour and was asked what he’d do during his retirement from Offaly football and said something of interest:
“The first thing I’ll probably do is book a holiday for early next year to actually go away or maybe a summer holiday or something because it’s something I’ve never been able to do,” he told show host Colm Parkinson.
“There’s loads of things I’d love to do, I’d love to go to the Superbowl and go to Wimbledon during the summer and there’s other sports I have a massive interest in and just to go and to go and experience those things and those occasions that is something I’m really looking forward to doing.”
It’s something that most of us take for granted, a summer holiday.
Whether it be slaving through the college year while working a part time job saving up or working full time counting down the days, weeks and months until the next trip these inter-county players can’t do that.
They have league games throughout the spring and then championship in the summer and the problem with that is that you don’t know when you’ll be finished, there’s no planning.
The youthful years of McNamee has passed by without the J1 rite of passage or an interrail, it may be a first world problem but it is still a massive sacrifice.
The trend now seems to be reversing, Jack McCaffrey spent a year abroad as part of his studies and Tom Devine missed an All-Ireland final this year opting to go travelling for the summer instead. It’s good to see.
So, spare a thought next time you criticise an intercounty player, they’re putting their lives on hold for the love of the game.
