Ballymac chairman says mindset coach played key role on road to Croke Park

RETURN OF THE MAC: Ballymacelligott players celebrate after defeating Buttevant in the AIB Munster club JFC final at Mallow. Picture; Eddie O'Hare

Ballymacelligott GAA chairman John Rice claims no credit for the club's success in reaching the All-Ireland Junior Final in Croke Park on Sunday.

“I came at a lucky time," he declared. "A lot of work had been done. When I came on board, I was keen that somebody outside the parish, more than me, would come on board to train the team. And even then we had the setbacks, we lost the final in extra time to Listowel Emmets in 2023.

"In 2024 we were beaten in the semi-final on penalties to Firies, but we stuck with our recipe. We stayed with the team. We had faith in them, and we supported them all the way. So I think that's our recipe.” 

Rice, a consultant in Tralee and part of the Kerry senior squad’s medical team, felt that while things were going along nicely, nothing could prepare the club or the community for what happened in late May.

“It had been bubbling nicely, some of the guys have fallen off through injury, but some young people have come on board. Then a huge shadow arrived in the form of the tragic passing of (selector) Tony Silles' son Luke, a club minor, before his Leaving Cert in May. It affected the whole club."

The worst of times can bring out the best in people and Rice believes the club rallied like never before.

“The loss was felt deeply in the club and community. And then in another way, it strengthened the club because there was a great unity at the time of his funeral. The amount of people who came to direct traffic and to support Silles family was just fantastic. The team fed off that.

"Luke Silles would have come here to training most nights with his father. And he'd have got the balls and got the bibs afterwards. And he'd have engaged a bit of banter with the players and that. So he was a part of the team, even though obviously he was a lot younger and he had a bad knee and he was only in his Leaving Cert.” 

Life's reality is that another day dawns and so while the squad was grieving, they were getting by on the pitch.

“We have a good team here. There have been fantastic work done here. One of the key support pillars has been Elaine Doran. She's our mindset coach. And she came in. She was on the fringes of the Kerry team last year.

"Paddy Tally was a great fan of hers on the Kerry set-up. And I really did see the benefit that Cathal Sheridan brought to the Kerry football team last year. I would say that he contributed in a huge way to Kerry's victory. So I wanted to emulate that.

"I spent a bit of time obviously with the Kerry footballers as well. And I saw the benefit that a mindset coach brought. When Elaine came on board with Ballymac, It knew we couldn't have got a better person.” 

The timing was coincidental but Doran was a help in more ways than one a week after the Luke Silles tragedy.

“It was actually the evening after us getting beaten in the League by Kerins O’Rahillys. I remember we should have beaten them in Strand Road. We really threw it away. But that was a week after Luke's funeral. And after that game, the management team and I travelled out to Elaine's house in Rathea.

"And she started her mission at our level. She wanted to see what our ambitions were. How we were going to achieve it. I think it was their own kind of self-belief. And really to become more disciplined and more focused. And I think she reconciled any differences or misunderstandings within the set-up.

"There's always a bit of tension between players and management. She really did bring us together. She did it in a lovely non-instructive way. She let the players do the talking. Let the management do the talking. And she just brings it together in a fine, calm and cool way.

"I think she's been a very important cog in our journey this year.”