Visible Change Providing Perspective

I wouldn’t say I’m a bad loser but I absolutely hate losing. I can only remember being visibly upset on two occasions. The first was when we lost to Fermoy in a County Minor semi-final in 1998. There were few words and many tears shed by us on the way home that evening. The other was when Erins Own beat us in a County semi-final in 2005.

The misery after the latter game was compounded by the fact that I knew it could be my last Championship game for Kinsale. As I came out the gate of the field I passed by my brother and uncle in the narrow path on the way to the dressing room. There was little to be said and there was little time in any case. I needed to get into a car and head to Dublin from where I would fly to Brussels.

I think I reacted like that on those two occasions because we had prepared so well those years. That means there is a huge investment made by you and your teammates and if you fall short, you feel devastated. In Championship it is all or nothing. If you don’t win it, there’s a long winter and spring ahead of you before you can even start back on the road.

Despite last Saturday being ‘only’ a friendly tournament, I was like a dog leaving The Hague. Someone had had a word with me that morning to suggest we use the day as a learning and not go too loopy if things don’t go our way. I was trying to drill that into myself as I left.

On the journey back and on the following day, I was trying to find perspective; we tried different things, used guys in different positions, explored a couple of different tactics – it was never all going to go to plan.

One of the big things I took from the coaching tutor course before Christmas is about how to give a coach confidence by the way you ask him questions. I started tutoring myself – “so Dave, what do you think went well today?” A standard question to put the Coach at ease.

Straight away I went from looking at it from the perspective of a player to looking at it through a coach’s eyes. I began to trace the development of some of the players on the team since they first arrived and also the style in which we play.

The importance and need to actually coach players first dawned on me in October 2010 when Eamonn Ryan visited. Having stepped back in early 2011 I didn’t get to build on it but it was very much a focus of Conan and Eoin when they took the reins. I tried to continue when I got back involved and I think from last year, there was been a greater awareness of coaching and tactics in our set-up.

In the early Belgium G.A.A. days, we had a relatively generous sprinkling of experienced footballers. I was more abrasive as a trainer and didn’t flew off the handle more than I do now. An experienced player needs confidence of course but can be told a few home truths without having it broken as easily.

Currently, we have more guys who are a little behind on the learning curve because they would not have played as much football or even other sports. Being aggressive with this type of player could do more harm than good. More patience is required.

On Saturday, I noticed visible change in a lot of the performances of the lads. You could see guys were trying to put into action what they have picked up. They have become more composed on the ball and the decision making has improved. We’re not there yet but it is a difficult process to go through. If you could turn it on and off like a switch then top notch players would be ten a penny.

It doesn’t work like that so you have to be patient whilst the player develops the skills, the mindset, and an understanding of the bigger picture and his role within it. If I look at our panel on Saturday I would say nearly every player has improved since they first put on a Belgium G.A.A. jersey for the first time. That is a great thing to be able to say.


The different guys involved in training the team and the more experienced players we have had have contributed to that greatly. It all comes down to the player himself though; is he listening, watching, learning? On Saturday, I saw guys learning new things and improving even during the course of the day. That is very positive.

I maybe haven’t found that sense of perspective before and instead became twisted up in the frustration of defeat. That would carry into training. The players and ultimately, the team, would suffer. Conan would try to balance it but one could not always offset the other.

So when I reflect on Saturday and more broadly speaking, where we are coming from, there is a lot to be positive about. However, as the famous slogan goes, it’s a case of ‘a lot done, a lot more to do’. And this leads nicely to the tutor’s next question...
“So Dave, what do you think could have gone better on Saturday?”