Opening The Closet

With the main G.A.A. activity of the year over, attention now turns to filling in those dark winter evenings. Many people may have misinterpreted my feelings about foreign games so the following admissions may be a disappointment to them!

In recent years, I've spent my free time playing for FC Irlande. Soccer is not a game that comes naturally to me but the sport and the club helped me settle in Brussels. I spent most of my first season on the seconds and held down a first team spot for most of last year, my endeavour rather than skill being my key atribute.

This year I've been minding myself and have not really engaged with it so much due to the G.A.A. I have played a few games for the seconds though and enjoyed each one. It's a very compatable squad this year and the team finds itself topping the league heading into this weekends game against British United. It will surely occupy a fair share of my winter but I'm not sure how much yet.

This is mainly due to my interest in another sport for which regular readers will have picked up on previous references. For those who haven't, I must disappoint you and confess to being an enthusiastic hockey player! The back has curtailed my activity in recent years but I'm determined to give it a good go this winter.

I played in school and also occasionally with Bandon Hockey Club's third team in 6th year. After that I spent six years playing with U.C.C., often in opposition to my brother, who plays with Bandon. When at home in August, I joined in a Saturday afternoon training game with them. Their current captain, Andrew Kingston, is a former teammate from school and UCC. I asked him to sort my release forms from College so I could be available to play for one of their teams when I'm home.

He duly did and last weekend provided the first such opportunity. His brother Mark is captain of the seconds and I sneaked into that squad for last weekends clash with C of I. The environment was very familiar. Mark would have been a year ahead of me but was young enough to captain my teams on the way up. I'd know Horse and Fordey well from school also. Trevor Martin would have been a regular sparring partner. Jason and my brother John were all too familiar defenders. The rest of the squad was a younger generation who I knew little of except that they were blessed with some talented skills.

Before the game, the lads were asking me was I playing much in Belgium. To keep my chances of getting a game high, I told them I was tipping away alright. However, I was quickly found out as I was sprung from the bench early to replace an injured player. There are two new rules in hockey which only came in this season. One allows a player who has won a free to restart the game by moving the ball one yard and then continuing play himself. I didn't know this and was not impressed when my man took advantage.

I rotated in and out for the rest of the game and enjoyed every minute of it. Its the first time I have played on the same team as the bro so that was a bonus too. While I didn't always appreciate Bandon's maverick approach to their play when I was with UCC, I always appreciated the effort they needed to put in to keep their club going in the face of the significant pulling power of Quins and CofI. If I was still in Ireland, I would have returned to play with them without doubt. The ease at which I could blend back in last weekend demonstrates why.

Of course, all through my hockey days I was ridiculed for playing this overly prodestant sport. It was always just banter though and plenty of our lads spend their winters playing other sports like soccer & rugby during and we're always interested in how eachother are getting on. I gave hockey as much committment as I gave the G.A.A., even playing a hockey league game the morning of a Championship match on one occassion. Of course, there would only ever have been one winner if I had to choose but fortunately I didn't.

I head back to Belgium tomorrow night enthused about finding a team and getting back into it. If I'm realistic, I know that my back won't hold up to it but while it does, I'll enjoy every minute. I've two more weekends where I'm available for Bandon before Christmas so hopefully I'll don the black jersey again soon. This is how I spend my winters.