Opportunity exits under pressure - you've just got to embrace it

Finding myself with a unique problem this week as I set about penning this column and not one I’ve had too often - I’ve got two topics I need to chat about, both of which had me dreaming up what I was going to write so rather than waste these ideas, I’m going to combine them and see what happens.

First idea was the notion that pressure in a sporting sense, while potentially debilitating, is also an opportunity and pressure really should be welcomed. The positive thinkers among us gravitate towards that notion naturally but there is a good sized community who do everything they can to avoid the idea of pressure, a sort of 'head in the sand' approach that I believe only makes the situation worse.

Shock & Awe with late match winning goals

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Most times this approach is rooted maybe in a lack of confidence and is typified by declaring your opponents in an upcoming Final are definitely  the favourites, we're the underdogs and don't dare say anything else. Trouble is, when the self proclaimed underdogs  win, they go on and on about how everyone had written them off!

That idea has been rattling around my head as Kiltubrid Ladies and St Mary’s Kiltoghert men face into potentially era-defining matches this Saturday - games that are a wonderful opportunity but also filled with what  sportswriters like to call “pressure”.

Yet every time I decide 'yes, that's it, that's my column' and sit down to expand on that notion, my mind keeps dragging me back to  what I witnessed, first hand, last Sunday in Drumshanbo as just over 500 runners from all over Connacht descended on the town for the Connacht Cross-country championships and left singing the praises of the local organising committee.

Pressure isn’t just confined to those on the field of play, the court or track - organisers and officials feel it too. The grief officials get when an event doesn't run smoothly or a pitch is waterlogged, let alone what referees are subjected to, is every bit as real as what any competitor faces in their chosen discipline and perhaps a good deal more worrisome.

Involved with organising the event in Drumshanbo, I spent the last week worrying about everything from weather forecasts to first aid requirements to starters to this, that and everything else in between. Leitrim hasn’t hosted the event “in-county” since 2013, having  relied on venues in neighbouring Sligo when it is the county's turn to host the event. 

Grounds for concern "weather" we like it or not

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The event is a big undertaking but the officials from Drumshanbo Athletic Club welcomed the occasion, not seeing it as pressure to host the championships but rather an opportunity to showcase their town and county and boy did they grab it with both hands.

I shouldn’t have been surprised because the club organises the incredibly successful Tony McGowan Road Races each year so they know their stuff. But this was cross-country, a different kind of beast with  different challenges such as 14 different age categories over a four hour programme, organising parking from competitors travelling from all over the Province; but they rose to the challenge magnificently.

I'm reluctant to name names because the danger of leaving someone out is immense but I can't go without singing the praises of Ita Gray, Christine Gilrane, Claire Fee & Catherine McGowan who did immense work behind the scenes. They didn’t see the challenges I saw but rather  the opportunity to promote Drumshanbo and Leitrim and boy did they grab it.   

However, it wasn’t just the Athletic Club that rose to the challenge - the local community really rowed in behind the effort, showcasing the pride in their area and giving of their time,  facilities and undoubted enthusiasm to emphasise the strong bonds and spirit that ties a community like Drumshanbo together.

The generosity of Stephen Reynolds in allowing Leitrim and Connacht Athletics the use of his field, Allen Gaels GAA club opening up their clubhouse, St Patrick's NS allowing their school operate as headquarters for the day,  the Mayflower and the Mart in providing parking facilities give some small  idea of the entire community effort involved.

Feedback from around the Province was universally positive - the heavy course  tested athletes to the extreme  but despite the difficulty, athletes loved it while coaches  and officials saw it as a return to cross-country’s traditions and everyone raved about the organisation of the event and the welcome they received.

THE FUTURE IS NOW FOR ST MARY'S

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I’d be accused of hyperbole by my Connacht athletics friends by saying it was the best organised provincial championships I’ve witnessed but I’m going to anyway! Take a bow  Drumshanbo AC, Leitrim Athletics, the local community in Drumshanbo and everyone who helped make the event a roaring success.

If you’ll indulge me, I’m going to try to link the hosting of Sunday's cross-country  to what St Mary’s and Kiltubrid ladies are facing into next Saturday - the local community in Drumshanbo embraced the challenge of hosting the event and the two teams in action have got to embrace the pressure they’ll face in their Connacht Club games.

That pressure is subtly different - Kiltubrid are trying to win a title and, in my opinion, they are probably slight favourites against Charlestown Sarsfields in the Connacht LGFA Intermediate Club Final  due to their talent in their ranks and the remarkable drive they’ve shown this year.

St Mary’s Kiltoghert’s young guns face a different type of pressure - an historic first  meeting of the Leitrim and London champions and the first Leitrim club team to travel to Ruislip are complicated by the fear of the backlash that might follow if St Kiernan’s score London's first ever victory  in the competition.

It is a different sort of pressure to what Kiltubrid face but pressure is pressure, no matter its circumstances and it is how you embrace it that counts because  the teams St Mary’s and Kiltubrid face next Saturday  are both under pressure themselves.

Kiernan’s are the more experienced side  compared to St Mary's and are playing at home to boot so the pressure to deliver is on them while Charlestown carry the presumption of favouritism thanks to Mayo’s record over Leitrim teams - the idea of losing to a Leitrim team is not one often contemplated in Mayo!

So the message I’d have for Kiltubrid and St Mary's  is to embrace the pressure, relish in it, accept it and use it to drive you on - I got that message loud and clear from  the Drumshanbo AC crew over the last ten days. 

Here and now is all that matters when it comes to County Final day

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Long term planning and development is the key to success for most clubs, writes John Connolly, but once you get into a County Final, it is the here and now that matters

That’s what Kiltubrid, St Mary’s and also Carrigallen next Sunday against Clifden have got to do, although recovering from such a draining encounter last Sunday  and the subsequent celebrations adds to Carrigallen’s challenge in Pearse Stadium, but they’ve got to show the same positivity and confidence and embrace the pressure that comes.

Do that -  embrace the occasion and concentrate on what you do best - and pressure becomes, as an old friend used to tell me, something that is for tyres!