BY KIERAN McCARTHY
BILLY Murphy is tailor-made for his exciting new role as the Beara GAA Schools Coach – he is a Bere Island man playing football for Castletownbere and who graduated from MTU Cork with a Bachelor’s degree in Business in Sport and Exercise. Murphy ticks all the boxes.
The 24-year-old will become a very familiar face in the national schools dotted around the Beara peninsula as well as in Scoil Phobail Bheara in Castletownbere in the weeks ahead, as he introduces regular football sessions into schools.
‘This is great news for Beara football because we can provide coaching for kids in the local schools,’ Murphy explains.
‘There are nine primary schools in Beara and the secondary school as well, so the plan is to spend time in all, starting with fundamental games to see where they are at, then incorporating football and getting them involved.
‘While there are a lot of kids in Beara who play football, there are kids who don’t either so this is an opportunity to introduce them to football – there should be a knock-on benefit to local clubs as well.
‘It will be something for kids to look forward to, to have half an hour outside to play games and football.’
This is a welcome good-news story for Beara GAA, and a boost to the local football scene in a year that saw the division’s senior football team pull out of the championship for the second season in a row. A big effort is being made to safeguard football in this GAA-mad area, and the introduction of regular GAA coaching sessions to local schools will help deepen football roots all around the division.
The origins of this new Beara schools coach role – funded by the Cork County Board and clubs in Beara for a total of 20 weeks (in two blocks) – can be traced back to the division’s strategic review in 2019. A proposal was submitted to Cork GAA that additional schools’ coaching is needed in Beara, and this was approved. In the recruitment process, with an interview panel including Niall McIntyre (Cork GAA Games Development Coordinator) and Pat O’Shea (Munster GAA Provincial Games Manager), Bere Island native Murphy emerged as the ideal candidate.
‘We would hope that by having Billy in the schools, we will get more children playing GAA, but also create an easier transition from primary school to secondary school,’ Beara GAA Secretary Joe Blake explains.
‘In Beara, like with many other areas, we would have new families moving into the area, who might have no association with the GAA, so with Billy going to the schools it will allow the children to learn the game of Gaelic football in school. This will be of benefit to the clubs in the divisions as with numbers being so tight, any additional players is greatly appreciated.
‘With Billy also visiting the secondary school in Castletownbere, it will hopefully create an easy transition from primary to secondary school. The children will have had Billy coaching them in primary school so having him in secondary school will make it easier for the child to have a familiar face around. Hopefully the secondary school coaching will allow for better player retention in terms of playing numbers.
‘Studies have shown that boys and girls can give up sports in their teenage years, so hopefully having additional coaching resources available will encourage the players to keep playing, and this will be of great benefit to the clubs and Beara division in an area where playing numbers are so tight.’
Billy Murphy knows better than most the challenges facing football in Beara where six clubs exist, including his own Bere Island who play one game a year to survive; it’s why Murphy, who lives on Bere Island, plays with Castletownbere. He knows the local football landscape and its challenges, and that’s why he feels his new role as a schools coach in his home division is a chance to improve the GAA outlook in Beara.
‘It’s important to keep numbers up, we want our clubs to survive,’ he insists.
‘Look at my home club, we play one game at junior C every year to keep it going. If you look at Garnish, their underage players play with Castletownbere. We all want to keep numbers up and keep clubs going. By getting into schools, and giving kids more exposure to the game and staying active and involved, the hope is they will stick at it.
‘When kids are young, it’s not all about winning, it’s about making sure the kids stay active, keep participating and having fun.
‘Success, for me, is if I am going to schools and I see kids progressing, having fun, looking forward to these sessions, and then keeping engagement up and keeping numbers up. Down the line, those kids could go on to play with their clubs, maybe eventually play with Beara.’
As part of Murphy’s brief that includes regular visits to local schools, he will be involved in organising blitzes involving all local primary schools, and help link the schools and clubs in Beara. With GDC Niall McInytre working with clubs and Murphy on board to work with local schools, this is a significant step forward for football in Beara.
‘There has always been great talent in Beara and we can help that now, create more interest in the kids, help get more involved, and the benefit of that is that kids can stay fit and healthy, and participate in sport which is very important,’ Murphy says.
‘We want to get as many kids involved as we can, and to increase participation rates. Kids want to play and want to have fun, and that’s what we want: to make sure they play games, have fun, and that will keep them more engaged with football and Beara.
‘Sport is so important, and away from the playing side it can help you make friends so there are a lot of benefits on and off the pitch.’
