Tristan Noack Hofmann of Arva and Cormac Mulvihill of Listowel Emmets during the AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Junior Club Championship final match between Arva of Cavan and Listowel Emmets of Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
Tristan Noack-Hofmann sums it up nicely by describing Arva’s AIB Ulster Club Intermediate football final semi-final win over Magheracloone last weekend as “the sort of thing you dream about as a kid”.
Trailing by seven points (0-11 to 0-4) with as many minutes of normal time remaining, Arva summoned a sensational comeback that Noack-Hofmann was very much a central figure in
Three points in a row reduced the gap to a more manageable four, and then powerful midfielder Noack-Hofman gave his team an irresistible momentum by bustling his way through the Magherancloone defence and planting the ball to the back of the net.
A minute later he set up another goal for team-mate Barry Donnelly and Arva had somehow sealed a victory that looked beyond them for most of the contest.
Timing is everything in sport, something that Noack-Hofmann appreciates better than most.
He’s been a key figure in Arva’s 24-match winning streak that saw them win county, Ulster, and All-Ireland titles in the junior grade last year and now follow with a Cavan Intermediate title this year with the chance of another provincial title to come this weekend.
Noack-Hofmann’s significant contribution to those successes is all the more impressive when you consider the now 26-year-old played no senior football for the Cavan club until 2022.
That’s because he was fully focused on a soccer career that saw him play for Longford Town, Bray Wanderers, and Athlone town as well as represent Ireland at U-15, U-18 , and in the World University Games.
Eventually he fell out of love with the professional game and when he decided to take up Gaelic football again the prodigal son was warmly embraced by his club and has loved every minute of it since.
“Everyone is just rowing in the same direction and it's such an enjoyable process to be part of a team that's trying to do things right,” says Noack-Hofmann.
“I only really appreciated how enjoyable a sport Gaelic football is and how much it's all about the collective when I came back. The only regret I have is that I didn’t come back earlier.
“With soccer you could have different team-mates every year whereas with Gaelic there's a lot more of a community spirit. It's the lads you grew up with. Finbar (McAvinue) our full-back was literally born in the next door room in the Mater hospital the day after I was born.
“So born one day apart in the same place and now we're on the same team competing for an Ulster Championship. It's just so nice to play with the lads you grew up with and went to school every day.
“You know each other inside out and you're best friends on and off the field. Like I said earlier, my only regret is that I didn't come back earlier but all I can do is make the most of what I have now. The last few years have been so enjoyable so long may it last.”
Tristan Noack-Hofmann of Ireland and Max Verkaik of Scotland shake hands following the Colleges & Universities Football League International Friendly match between Ireland and Scotland at Oriel Park, in Dundalk, Co. Louth. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile.
Noack-Hofmann runs his own gym locally in Arva, Tristan NH Health & Fitness. He knows a thing or two about strength and conditioning but admits it was still a significant sporting adjustment to make the leap back to Gaelic football from soccer.
“100 per cent,” he says. “The adjustment period was definitely there. People don't realise it, but the size of a soccer field compared to a Gaelic field just isn't on the same planet.
“You're used to running a third of the distance because the reality is a soccer pitch is a third of the size. You could nearly play a full length soccer pitch across a GAA pitch within the 45 yard line. That's the size of a soccer field compared to a Gaelic field.
“The first year was definitely an adjustment period but then going in with the Cavan panel the year after definitely helped me ramp up that transition period and body conversion phase from a soccer body to a Gaelic body.
“I've been building, building, building and obviously owning a gym does help as well. You can spend a bit more time getting yourself in shape and stuff like that.
“It has been a process and the process is never finished, you can always get better. I'm just looking to keep building and getting better and better for Gaelic football.
“I enjoy the process. The gym isn't necessarily going to win football matches, you still have to do your stuff on the field, but it does help having that other stuff in place. It definitely gives you a better platform to spring off.
“Because I have a degree in it and have a background in it it's definitely something I enjoy and something I can use to my advantage, that knowledge, to try to propel myself forward.”
Noack-Hofmann isn’t your average Cavan surname. Tristan’s parents, Axels and Petra, are both originally from Germany but fate brought them to Arva.
Petra did work experience there as a veterinarian student, and when the man who owned the local clinic retired she decided take it on and the rest is history.
“Arva is such a welcoming place so when Mam and Dad came over 25 or 30 years ago they never had the feeling of wanting going anywhere else so they settled here, we grew up here, and we haven't looked back since,” says Noack-Hofmann.
“We are all just delighted to be from Arva because it's a lovely community full of amazing people.
“Honestly, the people of Arva, if you watch our games the amount of people that come to them to support us from such a small place is crazy. It feels like every game is a home game, it's just incredible.”
Arva supporters during the 2024 AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Junior Club Championship final match between Arva of Cavan and Listowel Emmets of Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
There surely wasn’t anyone left in the place when Arva defeated Listowel in last year’s AIB All-Ireland Club Junior Football Championship Final, a day that Noah-Hofmann will never forget.
“It was just an incredible experience, what dreams are made of,” he says. “You couldn't write it. Honestly, seeing all those Arva flags flying in Croke Park was unbelievable. It's what every club dreams of.
“Playing in Croke Park is one of the best experiences you'll ever have and then winning in Croke Park is on another level altogether.
“Coming back to that homecoming afterwards and seeing all the blue and white out in Dublin, on the way home, and then at home was just an incredible experience. You couldn't buy it. I'm just so glad we could do it for all the people back home.”
It says a lot about this Arva team that, rather than resting on those laurels, they’ve come back even stronger this year to win a Cavan Intermediate title. What is it about this bunch of players that keeps them so driven to succeed?
“It's tough to put a finger on it,” says Noah-Hofmann. “Obviously you're always fighting complacency but when you have a generation in a small place like Arva that really have a high ability level you have to take advantage.
“Our manager Finbarr O’Reilly has been a big part in that as well. He's just nailed everything down to make sure that you're at the races and avoiding complacency at all costs because complacency is going to be any team's biggest issue, especially if they've had success in previous years.
"For us it's just about getting back to basics. Just because you're junior champions doesn't give you the right to win anything in Intermediate. The level has gone up and every marker is much better. You saw how hard we had to fight for that win against Magheracloone. It was last ditch-stuff.
“Winning just doesn't happen by itself, you have to be at it at training every single week in and out, putting in the effort off the field as well. Otherwise it will all be taken in a blink.”
Arva captain Ciarán Brady lifts the cup after the 2024 AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Junior Club Championship final match between Arva of Cavan and Listowel Emmets of Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Despite winning 24 matches in a row Arva go into Saturday’s Ulster Final against Ballinderry as underdogs.
Their opponents were All-Ireland senior champions in 2002 and sit second in the Derry senior championship roll of honour so they have a serious pedigree. Bu such is Arva's happy habit of winning, you wouldn’t write them off.
“When you pull games out of the bag like we did last week it gives you that belief that you can dig wins out,” says Noah-Hofmann.
“That was the first real proper comeback victory we've had to produce in the last 24 games. It was a test of character for us and thankfully we got through it .
“Ballinderry is going to be another tough step up though and if we perform to the same level we did last weekend it won't be good enough. The reality is we got lucky against Magheracloone. We didn't perform good last week and if we perform at that level we won't have a hope.
“Ballinderry are a top, top outfit and we have to bring it to them because it's going to be an absolute battle.
“This time of year, winter football, anything can happen. They'll back themselves and we'll back ourselves and hopefully it will be a good encounter.
“On the day more often than not the better team wins so whoever has their stuff done better will come out on top and hopefully that will be us.”
