The Ard Scoil Chiaráin Naofa Clara team that will contest the Masita Post Primary All-Ireland Schools Senior Football 'D' Final on Saturday.
By John Harrington
By reaching Saturday’s Masita Post Primary Schools All-Ireland ‘D’ Football Final, Ard Scoil Chiaráin Naofa in Clara, Offaly, have pulled of a real loaves and fishes miracle.
They’re a small school of roughly 300 pupils, boys and girls, and what marks them out as something different is that every single member of their team is drawn from the local Clara club.
They’re managed by teacher and former Offaly footballer, Paul McConway, but he’ll be the first to tell you they wouldn’t have made it this far without significant help from the Clara club.
Clara GAA club stalwarts like Brendan Lowry, Tony Dalton, Mark Scanlon, and Joey Deehan, who’s an SNA in the school, have done great coaching work, while kitman Shane Wynne is another invaluable member of a tight-knit management team.
This collective effort didn’t happen by accident. The school and club consciously came together to try to maximise the potential of a talented generation of young footballers.
“The lads from the club took it upon themselves to help me this year with the school team,” says McConway.
“It was some joined up thinking in so far as they wanted to get a bit of development going with the Clara underage as well and it made sense for us to link in and it has gone really well.
“Even from a community point of view it makes sense for a school to link in with your local GAA club. This is the first year we've done it properly whereby there's four or five lads from the club helping me out with the team. Without them this just wouldn't have been possible.
“It's amazing the strides they've made this year from training properly with a good team of coaches helping out. We've ended up in an All-Ireland Final so it's been a fabulous year.”
In attendance at the Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Captains Call at Croke Park in Dublin were, from left, Chair of the GAA National Post Primary Schools Committee Liam O’Mahony, Marcus Dalton of Ard Scoil Chiarain Naofa, Sean Neylon and Josh Moloney of St Joseph's Spanish Point.
Clara have always had a strong footballing tradition, but haven’t won a county senior championship since 2009.
The hope is that by strengthening the club-school link, they’ll be in a better position to bring through a more reliable supply of talented footballers that can get the club challenging for titles again.
“Clara has always been a traditionally strong club in Offaly but the last few years they probably haven't been going as well as they have previously,” says McConway.
“The club wanted to get things going again. It's funny, even in the past any success they had was built on what was done in schools.
“This is the second All-Ireland they've been in. They were in one in 2001 and they won two county titles then (in 2003 and 2009) and those teams were backboned by players who had been successful with the school. So it makes sense that the club has really come on board with the school now.
“Offaly is a small county so we need to maximise the potential of every club that plays football so we can get the benefits for the county. Because the more clubs you can pick from, the better it's going to be for your county.”
However Saturday’s All-Ireland Final against St. Joseph’s Spanish Point goes, McConway is content that the journey has already been a hugely positive one for the Clara players that should stand them in good stead.
“From the point of view of the players it's new experiences for all of these young lads. Getting outside of Clara and getting outside of Offaly and beating teams even outside of Leinster, it's a great experience for these lads. And a great confidence booster.
“It's landed us in an All-Ireland Final which is fantastic, but there's a bigger picture as well. I suppose when I first met the likes of Tony Dalton, Brendan Lowry, Mark Scanlon, from the Clara club, the idea was to try to bring Clara on as well.
“So no matter what happens on Saturday, the experience that these young lads are after getting now is going to benefit the club.
“And it’s fantastic for the community too because they’ve really gotten behind us. The flags are out in the school and the town. There's a great community there and the school is a big part of it and it’s great that the bond has been highlighted by what the football team has done."
Saturday, March 11
Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools SFC 'D' Final
St Joseph's, Spanish Point v Ardscoil Chiaráin Naofa, Clara, Tuam, 1pm.
