Thirteen characters we can all be very proud of
They know their sport, and they are not afraid to talk passionately about it: even under the glare of lights, cameras, and amidst the glitz and formality of an awards ceremony. The thirteen Mullingar Park Hotel/Westmeath Examiner Sports Stars award recipients are truly the most wonderful ambassadors for their respective sports.
Take St. Loman’s, Mullingar footballer John Heslin, for instance. With an old head on young shoulders, he was more than a match for 2fm sporting brain and compère, Robbie Irwin, when being examined about his year in sport. John – the March Sports Star of the Month, and winner of the Young Sports Star of the Year award – loves his native sports so much, that he turned down a potentially lucrative career in soccer to concentrate on carving out a niche as a true Westmeath GAA great.
“There’s money in soccer, but you have to do what makes you happy, especially in the middle of an economic crisis,” said the wise young owl. But Robbie, almost aghast, asked him the $64 million question. “Couldn’t you have been earning £90,000 a year with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo at this stage?” the radio host enquired. “Well, that was one of the options,” John replied with a wry smile. Alex Ferguson was on his knees begging for his signature, and with that second quip, you knew that this was a chap with more character than all the world’s highest paid soccer showboaters put together.
Other young stars like hurler Aonghus Clarke (January) and rugby prospect Conor Gilsenan (December), given their demeanour on the night, are also wise beyond their years, and destined to go far in their respective codes. Ambition was also very much in evidence among the winners. May winner, Mullingar Golf Club’s David Tynan, is determined to win the Mullingar Scratch Cup. He admits that there is a “big gap” between amateur and professional status. “But if anyone would like to sponsor me...” he added; if applause translates into sponsorship at some stage, David is going places.
Mullingar athlete Stephen Colvert (August), a latecomer to athletics, has his own store of ambition. The 2012 London Olympics are firmly in his sights, and he will work hard over the coming months to balance study with training, to get to Olympic standard; he is just a third of a second off this target. With wisdom and ambition goes hard work, and nobody knows this better than Aoife McCarthy (April). A scion of a family “synonymous” with handball locally and nationally, Robbie Irwin explained, Aoife trains four nights of the week to be at her best, balancing this with college life in Athlone. Aoife’s brother, Robbie McCarthy junior was among the winners at last year’s Sports Stars, but this year, the sibling element was taken to a new level.
Two brothers, Raharney pair Paul and Johnny Greville, were among the monthly award winners, while Paul earned the chief gong on the night: the Sports Star of the Year award. Paul identified his father, Westmeath hurling legend Sean, as one of his chief influences, and he hopes that Westmeath can soon square up to the Kilkennys and Galways of this world in the Leinster championship. Johnny, his older brother and Raharney manager, had some forthright views on what the County Board should do to lift hurling in Westmeath: organise more fixtures, and put in place a better support structure for the small ball game. With the county GAA chairman, Tom Farrell in the room, Johnny’s appeal fell on the right ears. Hurling did very well on Friday night, not least among the winners being the heroic Westmeath Minor ‘B’ hurling team, who tasted All-Ireland success in September. Manager Pat O’Brien, receiving the September award with his son Niall (who scored 2-7 in the All-Ireland final) and team-mates, told the audience that “self-belief” is the key to sporting success in Westmeath.
It’s equally an important factor for the dedicated pitch and putt practitioners in Kilbeggan. The February award winners were represented by John Sheehy, also described young players as the “hallmark of the club”. Like Kilbeggan Pitch and Putt Club, Mullingar Tennis Club (November) is another specialist sporting club putting its shoulders to a national wheel. Roddy Corbett - part of the club’s successful Provincial Towns Cup team - reckons that Irish tennis is doing remarkably well for itself, considering the level of funding available to it.
It’s proof positive that sport isn’t all about the money - unless of course, your efforts are generating hundreds of thousands of euros to help Irish charities. That’s what Mullingar ironmen Gerry Duffy and Ken Whitelaw did – running 32 marathons in 32 counties over 32 days for charity, earning them a deserved July Sport Stars award. Already, Gerry is preparing for an event which will be “physically more challenging” than the 32 Marathon initiative - so watch this space.