Galvin optimism finds fertile ground in New York
For all kinds of reasons, that is not an easy feat but Ian Galvin is a man armed with energy and innovation.
He is an optimist too, a pre-requisite for anyone agreeing to a two-year management term that pits New York against Mayo and then Galway in successive Connacht championship openers.
But most of all, Galvin is a man committed to the future. With the best will in the world, New York aren’t going to beat Mayo at Gaelic Park on May 4. If the foundations for success are properly installed now, however, they may just beat Mayo in five or 10 years’ time.
At 34, the youngest manager in inter-county football, Galvin has a rich legacy to call upon considering his father is a cousin of Waterville’s most famous son, Mick O’Dwyer.
It was either Gaelic football or golf coming from that particular neck of the woods and Galvin’s close connections with the great Kerry team of the 1980s ensured he warmly embraced the bigger ball game.
Now he is living in Queens, with his wife Julie and two young children, Vivienne and Sasha, and furiously spreading the word of Gaelic football in a city he has called home since 2001.
Naturally, the championship opener against a Mayo side pushing hard for All-Ireland success is uppermost in his thoughts.
As for New York, they will be captained by former Laois midfielder Brendan Quigley, who will lead a team of players with varying degrees of experience.
For the life of him, Galvin can’t understand why such a novel encounter in such a city hasn’t yet been pencilled in for live TV coverage in an attractive Sunday evening slot.
“I would love to see the game go live, this year especially because it is the 100-year anniversary of the New York board and because Mayo are in town.
“Have we ever seen a live game on a Sunday night at 8pm? I think it would be great. It’s something I’d love to see.
“I’m not too sure, contractually, who owns the rights to that but in the few weeks that are left, I think it would be great to get it shown live. Wouldn’t it be great for the people in Laois to see Brendan Quigley playing, for the Mayo people at home obviously to see their team.
“And we would love the people of Ireland to see what we are trying to do out here. I think it would be a win-win situation across the board.”
The critics will suggest that tuning in to watch Mayo hammer New York isn’t overly enticing. Galvin has thought about that too.
“One suggestion I have is that the county that wins Division 4, more than likely it’s going to be a lesser county, comes out to New York to play the second final against New York, close to our game in the Connacht championship.
“It would be great preparation for us. A team like Limerick, they won Division 4 last year. Let’s get them out to New York. It would help us get a game. And we would definitely look into the financial side of things and help teams out [with their travel costs].
“It would be great for them as well, to get some good preparation in before their own championship. Because I’m sure a lot of Division 4 teams are struggling to win their own championship openers.”
Slowly but surely, progress is being made in New York. Just last week, GAA president Liam O’Neill spoke of US$3 million being invested in developments at Gaelic Park, Shannon Gaels and Rockland.
“We want to upgrade what’s
happening in New York,” said O’Neill, reiterating the GAA’s support for them after separate remarks which were interpreted as questioning their future in the championship.
“Sometimes guys say stuff off the cuff and Liam came out and clarified his comments afterwards,” said Galvin. “I think the powers that be realise that New York is important. We want to stay part of the All-Ireland series.
“We want to be a participant and we don’t want to go out and get beaten by 24 or 25 points every year. We don’t want to hear any more of these ‘fairytale of New York stories’. That’s what we’re working towards.”
“My feeling is that it’s no different to a player transferring to a club in Dublin. We get an absolute miniscule percentage of transfers compared to other major cities, obviously Dublin being the one that gets the most and then probably London. Even the North American Board get a lot more transfers than us. What’s the difference transferring from a club in Leitrim or Kerry to a club in Dublin or New York? He’s not going to be playing for his club at home so if he wants to go to New York and enjoy what is for me the greatest city in the world, I think it’s unfair to stop him.”
“I’d be thinking off the top of my head but at least a third of our players [don’t hold legal status]. Once you stay out of trouble and you’re not getting arrested...like, you could get arrested for a non-felony crime and still not get deported. But if it’s a felony you’re pretty much gone. Then again, anyone caught for a felony is going to jail so it’s probably the least of their worries.”
“Micko and my dad would be first cousins. Micko would always have been around. I haven’t been on to him about New York. I did just hear he’s taken over the Waterville U14 team. There’s no stopping him!”
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