More to it than medals

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” — Theodore Roosevelt

This speech was given in Paris back in 1910 and has been used by many prominent politicians and sports people since, most notably when Nelson Mandela gave it to Francois Peinaar prior to the 1995 rugby World Cup final.

I came across it about 10 years ago and have had a copy of it pinned on my various work stations since. It instantly struck a chord with me as I find the words are very relevant to the career of a Gaelic footballer, particularly mine, in which defeat and disappointment have been recurring themes. With a sparsely populated trophy cabinet it was important to have some way to reconcile Monaghan’s fruitless endeavours over the years, with the massive amount of time and effort expended by so many.

Those who ever questioned the importance and relevance of sport will undoubtedly have a revised opinion considering the events in London over the past number of weeks. Who of us had an interest in Laser Radial sailing prior to Annalise Murphy capturing the attention of the nation? How many of us had ever actually seen Katie Taylor fighting prior to her Olympic heroics?

Both ladies captured the hearts of the nation and their contrasting fortunes brought tears to many eyes. Sport is one of the few things in life that can induce such levels of emotion in so many. Katie has lifted the morale of a nation in a way many of us could never have imagined.

It’s not often things go to script in sport, but such is her talent and dedication, Katie thankfully lived up to expectation, and will forever hold a special place in the hearts and minds of all of us.

Whilst thankfully Katie got her just rewards, sport is rarely fair and regardless of the amount of effort and commitment given, nobody can guarantee you will ever get the rewards you may feel you deserve.

In most sports, and especially in the GAA, success will generally be reserved for the advantaged minorities. But success is a relative term and shouldn’t necessarily be determined by what medals you win or records you break.

South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee who competed at the London Olympics, will rank his achievements as high as anything Usain Bolt managed. Similarly, the successes of Wojdan Shaherkani and Sarah Attar in becoming the first Saudi Arabian women to compete at an Olympic Games could reap benefits for women in their own societies that will far outweigh anything multiple gold medals may do in China or the US.

I try not to get hung up on what I have or, more pertinently, have not won during my career to date.

Watching the opening credits of The Sunday Game last weekend was one of those moments when my lack of silverware is made very apparent. Having little or nothing to rival Kevin McStay and Ciaran Whelan’s past accolades, I drew a blank when it came to a list of achievements. My two Dr Ward Cup wins with my club in Monaghan may have looked slightly out of place!

Yet, if you ask me if I think I have had a successful career, I would say yes. When I began playing with Monaghan you were more likely to see a Fermanagh, Armagh or even Cavan flag flown on the streets of my home town.

However, over the years we have gradually managed to raise the profile of the county and the expectations of supporters, to levels that were a long way off the previous status quo. Seeing kids proudly wear their Monaghan jerseys around the county in recent years is success in its own right. I just hope we can turn the corner in the next few years and preserve that support.

Watching a dejected Kieran McGeeney and Kildare after last weekend’s drubbing at the hands of Cork, I felt a huge amount of empathy towards them. Like us in Monaghan, they have worked tirelessly over the past number of years to gain success, only to be cruelly thwarted at every turn. Similarly, luck and timing have not been kind to them, whereas teams like Donegal have certainly benefited from both these factors in the past two years.

Kildare, like ourselves, may never get the silverware that many feel our efforts merit, but regardless, we should never feel like we have not achieved success. Whilst time may be running out for both sets of players, we will continue to be have our faces marred with ‘dust and sweat and blood’, so that when the lights go down on all our careers, we can at least be happy that ‘our place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat’.