The Dilemma of Working Together

Last weekend, two prominent groups in the Irish Expat circle of Brussels were busily conducting separate events. The Munster Supporters group held a dinner at which Mick Galway was guest speaker and as you know already we had Mike McGurn over for some coaching sessions. In addition to this the Ladies Footballers were also training. Of course the soccer club had all six of its soccer teams in action and I’m sure there were many other activities going on too.

The Irish seem to be very active in Brussels these days or at least I am noticing more. However, we tend to work in silos with little awareness of what each other are doing. I met one Irish guy who was visiting Brussels for the weekend and it was obvious to him that we had no common communication network.

Events like the Patricks Day one which has been going on now for a few years, have started to bind the communities together. It has really taken off in the last two years and has now become a day for all the Irish community here. Even with this increased contact, we still don’t really track each other during the year.

When we got the football going in the G.A.A. club here, we knew there were guys who played in Brussels years ago and we tried to get them involved but they had little interest which was disappointing but understandable as they probably felt they had done their time and had other priorities now.

One wonders was our failure to entice them a good or a bad thing. On Saturday, I had a fella telling me, with a great degree of certainty, that the only reason the G.A.A. club has taken off in the last couple of years was because of our sponsor’s money. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; from someone I had never met before, ever seen at training, a tournament or a club night out.

It’s the kind of small minded comment which makes my blood boil. Just short of two years ago, our club fielded two teams regularly. Now we field six, in four codes, as often as possible. Such participation amongst expat clubs in Brussels is only rivalled by the soccer clubs and even in the case of FC Irlande, we can match them in numbers of teams, if not overall participation numbers.

Our club didn’t grow because of money or one or two individuals. It grew because of a succession of driven people getting involved and working together to make the club what it is today; the most vibrant G.A.A. club which has ever been in Brussels.

In fact, the irony of all this is that it wasn’t money coming in which had the biggest impact, it was a move which stopped money going out which helped the most. When we switched training from the outskirts of Brussels to the cheaper and more central Parc50, we say our numbers surge. These types of facts are lost on the types of individuals which make such comments.

Hopefully we can contribute to bringing all the Irish organisations in Brussels together in the future. However, in doing so, hopefully we won't encourage such attitude out of the pub and into the committee rooms.

Taking Responsibility

Midway through Saturday morning’s session, Olof lit my fuse and it has triggered this entry. ‘Taking responsibility’ is a phrase you hear thrown around quite a bit. It has been especially prominent in my mind in recent weeks playing with FC Irlande. When the opposition launch a ball into our box, silence descends on the defenders. Guys don’t call for the ball until the very last moment and that inevitably creates opportunities where you can have two lads collide (or totally leave the ball) and an opposing attacker reaping the reward.

The root of this is a fear to commit, because you don’t have the confidence to finish the job. This is a practice that merely provides a platform for failure. In the FC Irlande situation, reading the game and communicating amongst each other is paramount. Spot the danger early, make the decision and execute. You must have the confidence in each other that ye can get the job done. You can’t stand back, you must anticipate and take the responsibility. Instead, we are still at the stage where we shift the blame and stand behind excuses.

Olof and I were in the same group for a ball drill yesterday morning. I was involved in each of the first three possessions and when I was running back after the third I heard Olof say ‘Barrett, that’s three in a row’, referring to the fact that the play had broken down and the tone implied I was key to that! Straight away I reflected on each possession and started to defend my role in it i.e. search for excuses. As individuals we can all come up with a way of exonerating ourselves from blame and that was my initial reaction. That’s not the attitude to have though. I didn’t react at all to Olof but his message got through and when I went through each possession, instead of looking to defend my position in it, I tried to look for what I could have done better.

Another example from yesterday was in the warm-up. A few lads were quiet and not calling names. When I told one to become more vocal he turned to me and said he didn’t know a fella’s name. That’s another excuse to a situation that is solved simply by asking the fella his name.

Going back to Friday night’s session, we were able to reel out the excuses why we didn’t perform well at it; we had sat for 2hrs at a talk, it was 21h30 on a Friday night, we hadn’t eaten since 12. Conor Counihan talks about controlling the controllables. Some of those were indeed out of our control but others, like managing your own eating, is completely in your hands.

In 2009, we had an excuse every time we failed with the possible exception of the last tournament in Maastricht were we held our hands up and said we were not good enough and the responsibility lay with ourselves and our commitment.

Olof asked Mike about how to handle the unique tournament format we have where we spend a lot of time travelling on a Friday and then have a disjointed day of matches. Mike also talked about controlling the controllables; there are factors that you can’t change like the travel or the schedule. You should override this as much as possible by doing the other things right like hydrating properly, resting properly and eating properly. That responsibility lays at the feet of the player.

It’s a culture which I have been guilty of being part of in the past but one we are going to totally eradicate from the club this year, if I have anything to do with it. We have a number of phrases which we will use to trigger our thinking about different parts of our game. Taking responsibility is going to be high on the list.

The McGurn Factor

Mike McGurn’s visit to Brussels lasted well short of 48hrs but the initial indications are that his influence will last a lot longer.

As we sat in Friday afternoon traffic on the way down from Amsterdam, he was cursing not having taken the early morning Dublin Brussels flight. I laughed deviously inside as there was no place I would have been happier to be than sat stationary on the Utrecht ring road picking the man’s brain.

When it comes to people who are quite well known, we all have our perceptions of what they are like from what we hear and read. Naturally I had some of Mike. From what I’d read it seemed clear he was a top man in his line of work. I expected him to be a motivator and an all round hard nut. Also, based on the experience he had when the IRFU suspended him for speaking his mind, i expected him to be direct, straight forward and a man of principles. Finally, considering the fact that he was coming over to Belgium GAA for a weekend, I figured he must be a genuine guy who is passionate about his area of work.

It’s reassuring to know that sometimes the perceptions are spot on.

The first event of the weekend was a talk on the physical needs for Gaelic Football, held in the European Parliament. Holding a meeting there is quite an operation and it isn’t the norm to have non-EU type events. With that in mind, the official title of the meeting was ‘The use of nanotechnology in sport’ with top notch guest speakers like Dr. Kevin Keary and Dr. Dave Barrett. Jim organised the room and managed the logistical issues to a tee. Maria, Kevin and Olof looked after the door, dished out the badges and ushered the crowd in. They were uncharacteristically efficient for Parliament types.

The talk went very well and people asked some very good questions. It covered all the hot topics from weights through to nutrition and Mike used video clips and himself to demonstrate what he was talking about. One aspect of the talk which told us a bit more about him was the way he engaged the crowd. He had soaked up the little bits of info I had given him about the group. For example, he knew there were people from the soccer club, he knew there was a physio in the room etc etc and he engaged them accordingly. It struck me all weekend how enthusiastic he was to meet everyone and the interest he showed in people when he was introduced to them.

From the talk we went out to BUC rugby club. Their facility is excellent and was ideal for the weekend. The session however was a disaster in some ways. Our handling was shocking, our grasping of the drills (me being chief culprit!) was slow and we were as quiet as mice. The football side was practically non contact. I could nearly feel Mike starting to bubble up inside but he contained himself. I was nearly embarrassed afterwards when I brought him home. I know we aren’t world beaters but we aren’t that bad either.

We were on again on Saturday at 9. While Mike was laying out the drills outside, we gathered everyone in the dressing room and had a few words about Friday night’s session and what the expectation was to be from ourselves for the morning session. It helped a lot and was noticeable from the first whistle. The prompt can’t always come from me though, guys need to step up from here on.

The session was more physical and less skill based than Friday and that probably helped also. It was all action and there was plenty of contact drills which is an area that we badly need to improve on. By the end we were hanging but the feel good factor was beginning to return. The two sessions lasted 47mins and 51mins respectively and I don’t think too many of us were asking for more!! It goes to show, use time properly and you can save a lot of time.

That evening I met him for about an hour in the hotel where he was very generous with his time, answering my questions and sharing information with me. From there we met Kev, Colin, Johnny and Conor for a bit of grub in de Valera’s and in fairness, Mike continued to answer everything that was thrown at him. What ensued afterwards was the first ‘official’ club night of the year and it’s safe to say that the physical benefit of the two sessions was seriously undermined in what followed.

The feedback from the weekend has been way above my initial expectations. The buzz and the energy created from it has been great to see. In the past, as footballers, we have tended to spend a lot of time reflecting on successes like the Euro C’ship win or the Dubai experience, rather than putting them to bed and focussing on the next goal. Mike McGurn is gone now and it is up to us to drive ourselves on to better ourselves. The weekend cannot be seen as a highlight of the year, it is merely one of the initial steps we must take towards our teams winning a European Championship in 2010.

Mike said he doesn’t generally do one-offs like this trip to Brussels and his explanation is understandable. You don’t put a programme in place over a weekend. It is a process that needs to be followed and monitored. I agree with this but also can’t underestimate the impact his visit has had on me. I lay in bed this morning, sore from training and dying from drink but my mind was totally invigorated. All that was going through my head was how to use what he taught us this weekend. The ‘torture triangle’ will get its debut on Thursday!!

We said our farewells last night and this morning. It’s safe to say Mike McGurn left his mark on Belgium G.A.A.

From Hairy Pints Come Big Ideas

As per usual, the new year brings lofty dreams and this year was no different. I met Colin on a Saturday early in January and he told me of a discussion that he had with Johnny the night before in The Hairy Canary over a few pints. Johnny had the brainwave of trying to get Mike McGurn over for a weekend.

For those of you not familiar with this man, I point you towards his impressive website (www.mcgurnelitesports.com), which when viewed, means no further introduction is required. The man is cutting edge. He has worked with Irish Rugby, Bernard Dunne, Ospreys, and numerous successful Rugby League teams. When Colin mentioned it to me, it’s fair to say my response politely questioned Johnny’s sanity.

No holding Johnny back though and within a week discussions on possible dates started with Mike. He lands tomorrow! It’s a great coup to pull off as Mike is as high profile a fitness guy as there is in Irish sports at the moment.

Of course such an event doesn’t come without a cost so we’ve sold tickets to pay for flights, hotel etc. In addition, our generous sponsors down in de Valera’s are also helping out. We should have about 49 for the talk tomorrow and Mike will then use the lads footballers as his guinea pigs for two field sessions over the weekend. It’s an unbelievable opportunity for us to learn from the best.

The event will be finished off with the first ‘official’ club night of the year on Saturday night. All the arrangements are in place now so the fingers are crossed everything goes well for the man who turned down the All Blacks but couldn’t turn down Belgium GAA!!

Every Man Needs A Good Woman

They say no mans life is complete without a good woman. Well, I had 8 of them to entertain for an hour and half last Saturday morning. The two time European Ladies football champions (from two attempts) are managing their own affairs this year after the smash and grab reign of Willie Cashin.

Led by Laura and ably supported by Caoimhe and Grainne, they are ploughing on with training whilst trying to find a replacement for Willie. One of the difficulties they face is that every member of our club is a player and so there are no people with time available to be dual assigned to playing and coaching, unless they do both for the same team.

I offered to help them out last Saturday with a session and thankfully for my ego they accepted. Although the turnout was less than half of what they normally get so that had a balancing effect.

I’ve had some experience with girls in the past, all in hockey circles. When I was in college I had a nicely paid gig coaching in a school in Cork and also coaching the UCC Ladies seconds. The pinnacle was being Phil Oakley’s assistant with the Munster Under-21 ladies in 2005. All were enjoyable experiences and I recognised how seriously that girls take sport once they commit to it. They listen attentively to their coaches and go about their business properly.

The Belgium GAA ladies who came along on Saturday were no different. We rattled through a good few drills in the hour and a half with only the occasional lapse for a chat! In fairness, they are very serious; maybe ‘mildly intense’ is how to best describe them. They moved through all the drills well even if the sister combo of Mide & Caoimhe tested my patience with their brazen disregard for my cones!

They have many injuries this year but I’d still back them to make it three in a row. They won the last two years with a bit of distance between them and the rest of the pack. It’s always hard to keep the motivation up but their reduced resources this year should be the spur they need. Those who attended on Saturday certainly didn’t show any signs of complacency.

Putting Conflict Behind Us

I’ve never been averse to the odd coup or rebellion. However, collective strike would never have been one of the tools I’d have used to demonstrate displeasure with a regime. I sat out one year but didn’t seek company of fellow players. Nowadays though, the G.A.A. has become more akin to a Union environment which often leaves its calling card in the form of a strike.

I don’t know the intimate details of the strikes that have plagued G.A.A. teams in Ireland so I won’t get into the intricacies of them. Instead, let’s stay high level and talk about what seem to be the two key divisive characteristics of the disputes; communication and training methods.

G.A.A. tradition would split the group in two; the player and the management. The latter dictates to the former who goes about their business without challenging the direction. The captain comes closest to bridging the gap between the two but in fact he/she probably just represents a mutually respected figure.

In terms of training methods, Ireland has seen great development in this area in the last ten years through home grown and imported expertise. Not everyone has embraced it though. There is an education process which needs to be gone through to understand the science and logic behind new techniques and how to apply them. The opinion still exists that if certain ways were good enough for certain groups at a certain point in time, then why shouldn’t they still be good enough? Let me bang out a few clichés and counter this; if you standstill you get left behind, if you keep doing the same thing you will keep getting the same results.

Your education is an evolution of your thinking but in some cases, maybe ladders, hurdles, cones, power training, agility exercises and other training tools/techniques constitute a revolution. We should be confident enough to embrace new ideas though and not be intimidated by them.

Players have heightened expectations these days. The dynamics of our country changed in the last twenty years. A higher proportion of our population have been exposed to a greater variety of jobs and cultures than ever before. The boom created self-confidence in the value of our opinion and a feeling of self worth. Our skill set has also expanded through these exposures.

Decision making in organisations has evolved to allow more bottom-up (as opposed to top down) decision making in the work environment. An aspect of this is consensus building whereby all the stakeholders input is taken into account. This involves thorough and inclusive dialogue i.e. communication.

Irish people have a certain image of themselves. We think we are the last of the great communicators and to a certain extent this is true. However, think of the main environment which perception says we are at our best; it’s telling a story or singing a song or making new friends. All these are social environments.

A lot of this traditional image is still engrained in us but some has maybe been eroded and replaced by more structured organisation type communication characteristics. When players come to training or tog out for a match they don’t view it so much as a pastime but a cause (this has not changed through generations admittedly). What has maybe changed is that they want to contribute to making the environment a better place to operate in and are keen to bring their ideas to the table i.e. they want some input to decision making.

Following the bottom-up approach, management would be expected to listen and make an assessment on what they hear with some logical thought process. I don’t think players want to run the show (in general!!) but they want to feel that the whole group, players and management, want to move things on. No standing still, letting the opposition catch up and pass them by. If the two groups can leverage their strengths then it will be for the betterment of the entire group.

In unrelated matters, I’d like to wish my brother luck today as his hockey team in Bandon play Bangor in the Irish Junior Cup. I played in the last round with him and would love to be lining up alongside him today.. The second set of best wishes go to Kinsale. Today their Intermediates play Ballingeary in the Tom Creedon Cup semi-final and tomorrow their U-21’s play Championship against Carrigaline. 3/3 would be a good weekend.

Dressing Room Banter

We’ve all acknowledged many times how important the move into the pitches in Parc50 has been for the club. It has made training as accessible as possible for our players which is important when you consider most rely on public transport to get to training.

However, the pitch does not have lights so for the winter months we train in the British School (!) on one of their astro pitches. Aside from the lights, there is one other big advantage of making the trek out to Tervuren; dressing rooms.

A big part of the enjoyment I’ve always gotten from training is the banter and craic you have before and after training. I’d always be one of the first to arrive and last to leave because of this. It gives you a chance to catch up with lads and share a joke or two.

It may seem insignificant time spent but I think makes a good contribution to team spirit. The banter can only be a good thing and everyone can get in on it and it’s an opportunity for fellas to get to know each other a bit better.

It’s all about compromise here though and we know we can’t have our cake and eat. When we move back into Parc 50 in April we’ll lose the luxuries of the BSB but gain the accessibility of the Parc and the adulation and admiration of the army of runners and passers by who stop to see us playing hurling and football!!

The Big Wheel

Sometimes you get so consumed in your own thing that you forget what is going on around you. I would think Conan, Colin & I exchange 50+ emails per week regarding the Gaelic Football team. The topics are always live and need to be solved quickly. They range from training pitches to equipment to jerseys to training to challenge games to money to recruitment and beyond. Each week progress is made in some area and the machine keeps ticking over.

Last week we were putting a push on for an event we want to hold in the club in a couple of weeks. Colin was pushing the girls to promote it. They were of course cooperative and through the exchange they detailed their communications to the girls that week. Clearly they have the same amount of activity in their email accounts.

On Friday night, I went to the gym with Kevin. As Chairman of the club and European club development officer on the County Board, I had plenty to discuss from my seat as Men’s Football trainer and Coaching Officer on the European County Board. Through the exchanges, it was clear how much is going on behind the scenes from his side.
We continued our discussion in an Italian off Place Lux and such was the vigour and passion with which we were discussing our plans, the lady sitting at the table next to us felt compelled to learn more. I suspect she expected us to say we were involved in some big sporting organisation such was the intent with which we discussed our plans. She was just left a bit baffled though.

When I woke up this morning, I found further evidence to bolster my story about Member involvement;

02h09 Text from unnamed Belgian G.A.A. player with constructive suggestion about training

02h28 One word text from Jim saying “Nua?”. Our new PRO is taking a hands on approach! (Nua is a late night bar). No better man.

03h07 Unnamed Belgium G.A.A. player texts to say he won’t make the gym in the morning. At least he is coherent enough for the thought to register. It was an early appointment, no fault.

05h36 Forwarded email from unnamed Belgian G.A.A. lady to myself and Colin with an exchange between herself and an interested player.

All of the above demonstrate why we have grown our club so much in the last 2 years and want to push beyond 100 Members this year. It’s a relentless job and it can’t be done in isolation. The wheel is big so you don’t always know who the lad at the end of the line with their shoulder to it is. When you stand back though, you realise how much it takes to move it forward and it’s an impressive site.

Belgium Elects New King

The plush surroundings of the European Parliament played host to the Belgium G.A.A. AGM tonight. There was worry strewn across the faces of the attendees before the meeting started. Their fear was unfounded; just because you hold a meeting in the home of outrageous inefficiency, does not mean a meeting will be unorderly and without substance.

The meeting kicked off with outgoing chairman Olof Gill addressing the sizeable crowd. He talked of frogs and wells and blue skies and red armies and mao, as we all wondered how the club had survived a year under his reign.

Club Secretary Becky gave a brief but comprehensive report on 2009 highlighting the achievements on the pitch, in particular in Hurling and Ladies football and in the boardroom where four of our Members were elected to the County Board.
On to election of Officers where some new blood (and old) was injected in the form of Lorraine, Clare, Crusher, Sylvia, Steph, Jim and Conor. All willing and able bodies who should make a big contribution in 2010.

The big announcement of the night though was the election of Kevin Keary as Chairman. The Galway man takes over from close wingman Gill and his adoration of the committee room should see him thrive in his new role. His speech was more coherent than his predecessors but I’m at a loss to remember exactly what he said, which indicates it was not as memorable. Still, if next year’s AGM lacks the controversy, upheaval and arguments that this year’s lacked, then he will have filled the boots of the outgoing chairman admirably.

Finally, a highlight of the meeting was the presence of former President Sean Kelly who addressed the group. He was able to call on his previous experiences as Overseas Committee chairman in Croke Park and that kind of insight into the games outside of Ireland should make him a useful consultant to the club.

So with the committee room sorted out for the year, we can drive on and plot and plan our path through 2010. If we continue to work together as well as we have done in the past, then it should be a good year on and off the pitch.