Sars banking on fitness factor to gain winning edge

CHRISTINA CRONIN had a dilemma. At 1pm on a Tuesday afternoon she got the invite - to train the Sarsfields senior hurling team that evening.

Cronin felt a CV that included a stint as strength and conditioning coach at San Diego State University in California mightn’t buy as much respect from a group of strangers as a basic approach to that first session.

“I basically ran the s***e out of them that night,” the Blarney native reveals. “It was easier going down not knowing anyone. I didn’t know what to expect, I wasn’t involved in the GAA, so I was a small bit nervous.

“With the day job I’m used to talking to people. Getting the respect of 35 lads was a bit daunting, though they were grand - they didn’t know what to expect either. It was more or less an audition that night and Johnny was wondering how they’d take to a girl.”

Johnny Crowley, the Sars team manager, was impressed enough to retain Cronin as team trainer, and it worked out for everybody, with Sars collecting the Cork SHC title last month. The Locker Room gym employee, who holds a master’s degree in exercise and nutrition, has enjoyed her stint.

“It was better compared to San Diego State because you’re not seen as part of the employer, for instance, as you would be in the States,” Cronin explains.

“With a GAA club everyone is part of it.

“The players are all very motivated, they’ll head off after their warm-up and have their chat and so on. In the States, you see athletes that have to be babysat a lot of the time and have to have their hands held, but in fairness to the Sars lads, there’s none of that. They drive each other on all the time.”

Cronin herself says she is accepted as one of the boys at the training sessions - and it’s the only way they all could operate.

“I have to go down there with a certain attitude,” she says. “If I was all girly down there they’d walk all over me, so I’ve to take a tomboy approach.

“The other night I had fifteen minutes with them - my involvement isn’t as great as it was earlier in the year, so after they do their hour hurling, when they’re wrecked, they come over to me and I know by their faces they have no more interest in running around for me... they’re cursing me - I know that - but they’ll still do what I ask them.”

Cronin nods when you ask about the range of ages she has to deal with.

“You have to watch it because there are minors, U21s, lads away with Cork for months on end... you have to be careful with what you can do from week to week and from session to session. You have to tweak sessions, so if I feel they’re knackered from a lot of running, I’ll bring them into the gym to do a power session. That keeps them fresh physically and mentally just because it’s a little different.

“The majority of the game is running, but it’s not all running. The gym has a huge part to play, not only in terms of variety, which stops guys from getting stale, but also because weights build power. Weights don’t slow players down, as hurlers and footballers now realise.

“Form and technique are huge in the gym. You don’t want to train your body using the wrong technique but gym work delays fatigue, prevents injury, improves flexibility. Come the last ten to fifteen minutes of a game if your muscles aren’t strong, they’ll fail you when you need them most.

“Strength and power are needed at this time of year. The conditions change throughout the year - the surface you played on in August is a lot different to what you play on in October and November - but the pitch in Sars is great. It doesn’t get heavy no matter how much rain falls, whereas down the Páirc for the county final, it was quite heavy and the lads felt it.”

Tweaking sessions doesn’t mean leaving players out, however and Cronin has been impressed by the players’ collective determination.

“The players do all the sessions together. You have lads like Robert O’Driscoll, who was away doing his Leaving Cert for six weeks and on his first night back he finished his sprints that went the length of the field so quickly that he was standing around waiting for the others to finish. Everyone trains away together and has developed together, so anyone on the bench will be at the same level fitness-wise.”

Sarsfields face De La Salle of Waterford tomorrow in the Munster club SHC, and while the Waterford side is a big strong outfit, Cronin is happy her charges are ready, based on their performance in beating Glen Rovers in the Cork decider.

“The Glen were big compared to us but our lads are showing the benefit of the hard training now, I’ve seen some of our smaller players blow opponents out of the way and hopefully they’ll keep that going against De La Salle.”

Picture: FITNESS GURU: “Our lads are showing the benefit of the hard training now,” says Sars team trainer Christina Cronin. Picture: Cillian Kelly