Dual stars taking on peaks and Valleys
They’re getting used to deciders down in Innishannon. A couple of weeks ago they put Kilworth to the sword to pick up the intermediate hurling final, which begs an obvious question: how are they balancing their football and hurling commitments at a time when clubs and players everywhere are struggling to fit both in?
Kevin Canty has been starring for both sides throughout the summer, and he’s quick to give the plaudits to the administrators within the club.
“Without a doubt the co-operation is very good between hurling and football, and I’d give huge credit to the chairman and the secretary of the club for that,” says Canty.
“The way the club is being run is fantastic, and you’d have to say that leadership comes from the top in that regard. That rubs off on the players then in turn and fellas have a good attitude to training and games.”
Michael Lynch, the Valley Rovers chairman, admits that it’s been a challenging few months for him and his committee members, but they had no control over one of the main problems they encountered.
“It’s been very difficult over the summer because the weather was so bad,” says Lynch.
“That meant that for long periods we didn’t have Innishannon available to us for training and so on.
“And obviously it’s not just a question of balancing the two top teams in the club, we have approximately 25 teams that we have to accommodate for training and games.”
They managed, but Lynch says they learned one major lesson when it comes to allocating resources.
“We got around to it, and everybody got their space, but without a doubt you need a third pitch available to you all year round, that’s the biggest thing we learned from the summer. What we had to do was allocate each team a specific time to use the pitches that were available to us, and they had to stick religiously to that time.”
What they also learned is that good will among the various club management teams is vital, he adds.
“That’s hugely important — minors, U21s, everybody is drawing on the same players, and every team has to be accommodated. The big thing is that championship games take precedence over everything when it comes to preparation.”
Unlike some clubs, the Innishannon outfit give equal weight to both games.
“I suppose traditionally Valley Rovers would have been known as a hurling club,” says Lynch. “In recent years the football seems to have taken over a little bit, though waiting 20 years for a hurling title has changed that slightly.
“Okay, we’re only one step away from playing senior football, and hopefully that’s where we’ll be next week, but both codes get equal attention, and we don’t put hurling over football, or vice versa.”
For the players, the simple change between codes can be refreshing, as Canty points out.
“It works very well for us because if we were playing football for too long we’d get sick of it,” he says, “And if we were playing hurling for too long we’d be sick of it. One is a break from the other.
“That helps us, because it keeps a bit of freshness in it for everybody.”
They’ve needed that freshness: soldiering into October is enough to take the edge off any player’s appetite. Canty salutes the common-sense approach taken by all concerned.
“It’s simple enough, really, the hurling and football management teams would meet up with the chairman every couple of weeks and they’d organise the timetable for training the teams.
“It might be two weeks hurling, then two weeks of football, though obviously the two weeks of training before a championship game would be all football, if it’s a football championship weekend, and vice versa if it’s hurling.”
Valley Rovers have had to deal with a further complication arising out of Cork’s run to the All-Ireland football final, having provided rebel ‘keeper Alan Quirke. Canty, who’s played senior hurling for Cork, says the players understand the situation.
“Obviously it’s a great honour for the club to have a player on the Cork senior football team,” says Canty. “When we have him, we have him — we understand the situation and we’re delighted for him to be playing for Cork. It’s not easy for him either to fit the club in either.”
Chairman Lynch has a word of advice for other clubs trying to juggle football and hurling: “Having enough facilities is a big help, without a doubt, but the most important thing is to have goodwill among all the managers and selectors when it comes to working out the times for training and to have players and so on.
“There may be times during the season when a schedule doesn’t suit someone, but in the long term, whatever needs to be done for the good of the club has to be done.”
- Tomorrow: Premier IFC final: Clyda Rovers v Valley Rovers, Páirc Ui Chaoimh, 4pm.
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