The Irish athletes who take annual leave to compete in their sport

Updated at 12.13

WHETHER IT’S RUGBY, soccer, cycling, athletics, tennis or something else, many modern sports fans find it difficult to admire and even worship athletes the way they once did.

Whereas previously, sport was marked by dignity and honour, with more or less everyone competing for the sheer love it, it is now characterised by sponsorship and multi-million euro contracts, in addition to a wide range of different types of obnoxious and unsavoury behaviour from increasingly ubiquitous athletes, whether it be on grand scale such as Lance Amstrong cheating his way to countless victories, or on a more minor, pathetic level (Ashley Cole tweeting about the FA being a “bunch of t**ts”).

And while it’s hardly football or rugby stars’ fault that they’re millionaires, observers of a certain mentality have found it increasingly difficult to relate to these superstars and the increasing bubble in which they live their lives.

Yet the ideals with which sport was irrevocably associated in the past are still prevalent today, albeit in more subtle forms. GAA is the most commonly cited example of athletes seemingly competing purely for the love of the sport, but there are several instances of Irish sportspeople prevailing in spite of having to overcome an array of obstacles and thankless tasks with little subsequent rewards, aside perhaps from the feint prospect of glory.

The Irish netball team are one of the many volunteer organisations in this country who do near-miraculous work with little or no funding. And not only are they merely existing — no small feat in itself — recent signs indicate that they are on the verge of flourishing.

Last month, for instance, the side triumphed in the Netball Ireland Challenger Series, beating Northern Ireland Select, Switzerland and Gibraltar (66-31, 35-22 and 50-15 respectively).

The Northern Ireland Select victory in particular proved a considerable scalp, as players from the two teams often train together, thereby creating an extra edge to the rivalry.

“We’d be quite friendly with them,” Sinèad O’Connor, one of the Irish team’s longest-serving members, tells TheScore.ie.“They come down to us and we come up to them a couple of times a year. They’re currently ranked 11th in the world and they’re playing Super League, which is the highest level you can play in England.

“A lot of them have a lot of skill to bring to the court, whereas we’re meeting up once or twice a month for proper squad training and do our own training as a little team in Dublin every Tuesday and Friday.”

In addition, next month, the squad are set to travel to the Nations Cup tournament being held in Singapore — the third successive year in which they’ve been invited to compete.

However, the Irish team, ranked 28th in the world, will have their work cut out for them, as from 7 December onwards, they’ll be up against Samoa (ranked 13th), Papua New Guinea (18th), Botswana (19th), Singapore (20th) and Malaysia (21st). Nevertheless, they will have derived confidence from their performance last year, when they made a significant impact on the competition, exceeding all expectations in the process.

(O’Connor is one of the most experienced members of the Irish team — credit: Kieran Murray)

“They really recognised us last year. The other team managers were commenting [about us], they knew the Irish were there to really go out and go hard. I think they underestimated us a bit, because we beat USA, who were ranked 18th last year. Everyone’s jaws dropped. It was also a lot closer between us and Singapore last year [than the year before].

“There’ll be some brilliant players [this year]. The first year, we were a little bit intimidated, but the second year, we were much improved. This year, we’re going out heads held high. Our goal will be to improve on that performance that left them talking last year and not just finish fifth out of sixth, the top three [would be achievable].”

And while the Nations Cup may not exactly be headline news in Ireland, in Singapore, it is decidedly more high-profile, to the point where even the Irish team attract adulation that’s on a par with some of the attention usually reserved for more famous athletes.

“Even to be asked back to the tournament is a huge honour,” she says. “When we’re over there, the little kids from the St Patrick’s Irish school come and support us.

“The sport in primary schools and secondary schools over there is so well funded and recognised that the interaction with players is huge. You’re signing autographs, you’re getting photographs taken, it’s massive, the coverage is massive, it’s all over the television. They have your poster up on every road as if it was in the Aviva.”

Yet despite the Irish team enjoying the odd rock star moment, netball remains chronically under-funded in this country. The side recently secured a kit sponsorship deal with GForce, but players still have to pay considerable amounts merely to continue to participate in the sport at a high level.

Competing in the Nations Cup, for instance, is likely to cost the team around €17,000, and that’s not taking into account day-to-day costs of gym memberships and physiotherapy, et cetera.

“The cost is a problem, and getting time off work can be a problem,” she explains. “We all take annual leave. We all take our holidays around this time.

“Some of the girls have different jobs and their employers will let them take a couple of days break. But it wouldn’t be set in stone, because it’s not a big recognised sport like the Irish soccer team, they’re not going to throw you out there and say, ‘go on, have a couple of weeks off’. It does take a good two weeks out of your holiday pay. The cost is the thing that would affect us more.

“In relation to getting over, we pay for our flights, we pay for everything when we get there, we make a donation for accommodation. Apart from one or two students on the team, we’re all full-time employees. So it’s hard to squeeze in fundraising and I’ve been on this squad a long time, so I’ve been asking the same people to go to the same table quizzes.

(Jan Hynes in action for the Irish team – credit: Kieran Murray)

“I think your family nearly avoids you when it comes to these tournaments,” she jokes. “They go into hiding, they won’t take your phone calls.

“But the pride that you feel playing for your country — you may have difficulties coming up to it — but the second you go on court, it doesn’t even come into your head.”

And not only are O’Connor and others helping the Irish netball senior team to go from strength to strength, they are also endeavouring to train a new generation of young talent on a voluntary basis.

“We’re trying to get it back in schools over here. We’ve gone back into 12 schools. Some of them actually come to matches at the weekend — they just know us from coaching. They see us there [in the school] and they know we play netball, but because they don’t see us on telly [they aren’t too impressed], but when they see us in full force for 60 minutes, they’re like ‘woah’.

“We set it up with the school and make an initial contact. We did 12 schools last year and have six planned for this year. We offer them free equipment. We give them the bibs, the balls, the nets, everything. Then at the end of it, we do a schools blitz, which is held in UCD. All the schools play each other. It’s usually fifth and sixth year girls, but boys are allowed to play too, we don’t restrict it.

“I taught in a Muslim school last year and they loved it. They take it on board and keep it going, because the teacher has the manual to keep it going.

“It’s also still classified as a non-contact sport, which would appeal to many girls of that age group — they’re not getting hit like in Gaelic Football [which O’Connor also plays]. And there’s a high skill level — it’s not gung ho. So by encouraging those school teams, we hope to eventually bring them in to the Irish U17 squad or Irish U20 squad, and obviously then the senior squad.”

So with all that in mind, in five years’ time, where would O’Connor ideally like to see netball in Ireland?

“We’re ranked 28th, so in relation to the actual team, we’d want to be up that ranking ladder, at least closer to 20. That’s our main goal.

“With the schools and the youth teams, by getting that platform going, we can hopefully develop the young talent and enable them to fill our positions on the court. So hopefully, in five years’ time, I can say — ‘that wing defence, I brought her through to get on to where we are and maintain our level’.

“Our coach works with the U17 and U19 English netball team, so she comes over [to Ireland] to coach us, but what she’s bringing from her own experience is brilliant. If we can hand that down to the younger players, that would be brilliant.

“We’re getting Irish netball back onto the international stage — it was there maybe 20 years ago. We want to get it back to where it is now. It’s a credit to the team members and the coaches and the committee, because every single one of them is a volunteer. Even with the schools, we’re offering our time up so hopefully, it catches on.”

To learn more about netball and the Irish team, click here.

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