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.