From Croker to the club, Cooney back to his roots

CORK PREMIER IHC FINAL:

Burns made the point that having held that office, one might assume Cooney would have landed a “cushy” number somewhere, but instead he’d fallen back in with his club, Youghal, as a team manager.

Surprised? According to Cooney himself, the only surprise for him is that anybody would find that move unusual.

“I don’t see any reason why there should be surprise at the fact I went back to work with Youghal,” he says.

“I’ve been involved with the club, obviously, down the years in various capacities but not while I was president of the GAA.

“This year the chairman approached me about getting involved and after I gave it some thought, I agreed. I went to two of the lads I know well in the club, they agreed to get involved, and away we went.

“But in general I don’t see why people would be surprised. In every way you look at it, getting involved with the club is entirely logical, I’m enjoying it enormously.”

Is it a relief, in some ways, after being president? After all, managing an intermediate hurling team isn’t usually a job that requires you to be aware of the political ramifications of every answer you give.

“I suppose that could be part of it, the attractive thing is that you’re back with the club you were reared with for however many years — 50 or more, in my case — and you’d like to make a difference if possible.

“That’s one thing I’d stress, though. It’s not about me. It’s about the club, and trying to help the club advance in some way, and obviously, like any member of any GAA club, if I can help to do that, I’ll do it.

“Any member would try to help his club realise its potential, or get to the next level. I’m no different.”

Having been in the big office in Croke Park, though, there must be people who like to pass a comment on the sidelines to the former uachtarán...

“No, no, nothing like that. People are very nice, there’s been no issue and a lot of the lads with the other clubs we’ve met over the course of the season are people I’d know anyway from being involved before.

“There’s been no problem that way.

“There have been challenges — there’s a good deal more to organising a management team, and a team itself, than people realise if they haven’t done it, but as I say, it’s been hugely enjoyable.”

So has Youghal’s run to the county final this evening, presumably, but Cooney isn’t about to give their opponents any easy motivation by describing the season as a fairytale.

“Castlelyons are a fine club with a good group of players — they’re only down out of senior a couple of years, so they’ll have plenty of experience of senior championship games to draw on.

“It’s a big challenge for us, but we’re very happy with the team.

“They’ve done well, our lads, and obviously we’d like them to continue in that vein, and to do well on Saturday night, but it’s down to the players, and they’re a very genuine bunch. Their commitment has been first class, and in terms of getting the best out of them, they’ve been willing to do their best as well.

“Their track record in reaching semi-finals and finals has been very good, so hopefully it’ll come good on Saturday.”

A win would give Youghal a welcome lift, he says. “It’d be great for the town, for a lot of the older members of the club it would be a great boost.

“It’d give the younger members, the kids in the club, county champions to look up to, the local schools and the people working at underage level would all benefit. And it’d be fantastic for the players, for the commitment they’ve given. You can’t get into saying it’s something that players deserve, but it’s certainly something that they’d appreciate. They’ve worked very hard and it would be a massive boost.”

Going back to the grassroots hasn’t changed Christy Cooney’s mind; rather, it’s strengthened some of his core beliefs.

“I’d have been in touch all the time as president with what it takes to keep a team, and a club, on the go, but when you get back into it, you see at first hand the pride a local community takes in its club, the time and effort it takes to keep a club alive — that’s all resonated with me. It’s only copper-fastened my belief in the importance of the club as the basic unit of the Association.

“That’s where it starts, that’s where you go back to, and that’s where you see the values that are really associated with the GAA.”