A new year in 2023 got off well for me as I received an Award From Ballinagare Manor Utd FC on the 2nd of January during a fundraiser and presentation night.
As a part of the backend staff, being the 1st team Sports Therapist for Ballinagare Manor Utd, it is always special to receive the recognition that all of us in the background have our important roles to play in sports in Ireland, so I am writing this short blog post to say a big thank you to all at Ballina Manor FC for this recognition – it is much appreciated and makes it all so worthwhile playing my little role.
A PICTURE OF MY TROPHY BELOW FOR CLUBMAN OF THE YEAR 2021-2022
BELOW IS A PICTURE OF ME WITH DAVID HUSSEY (club committee member) ON THE NIGHT
FINALLY, A SCREENSHARE BELOW WITH DETAILS OF THE OTHER AWARD RECIPIENTS ON THE NIGHT
You Can Run a marathon too if you put your mind to it.
We have all heard words to the effect of “you can do anything if you put your mind to it”, and in this podcast, I speak to a local Roscommon man Tom who has now completed 3 marathons, the most recent being the 2022 Dublin City marathon and our paths crossed when I treated Tom for some not uncommon injuries picked up by him along the way.
The podcast should be of interest to lots of you out there to reinforce self-belief.
Tom’s motivation was to get fit and lose weight, he tells us about his aha moment and indeed as he explains how losing 4 stone pretty quickly aided motivation.
He discusses how training cleared his mind and removed stress.
In this podcast, a regular guy just like you and me discusses his journey and may help you to follow his path.
Listen to This Podcast -You Can Run a marathon too
part 1
Aidan and Tom discuss his journey from taking up running to taking part in 3 Dublin City Marathons. Tom Ward tells Aidan how are the most difficult stage of the 2022 Dublin City Marathon, the last 5km which is where he saw the Join Our Boys team and he looked up to heaven and thought of Archie. He said that inspired him and gave him the strength the complete the marathon. This podcast is dedicated to the memory of Archie Naughton from Join Our Boy
SHOULDER SPRAIN INJURY This weeks injury that I am covering is a shoulder sprain injury and a case study involving Gerry a good friend of mine. A shoulder sprain usually occurs as a result of a bad or awkward fall or a hard shoulder to shoulder. A shoulder sprain...
I recently did a podcast from which you can learn about what the GPA does in real life.
The Gaelic players association or the GPA as it is commonly known as, has been around for a while since 1999 and whilst we have all heard of it lots of people actually do not realise what the GPA is actually doing and the great work that it does out there in real life for players.
Our GAA sports players are non-professional but give so much to our local communities and indeed the country and its identity on a national level so the GPA should be promoted because its purpose is the wellbeing and welfare of our GAA players.
I recently had the privilege of conducting an interview with former Laois county footballer Colm Begley which you can listen to below.
The interview gives plenty of information about:
what the ethos of the GPA is
what it does,
its history
and a lot more besides
What the GPA is all about – more to learn from the interview?
I believe that many of you may find this interview of interest because Colm Begley was an inter-county player as well as being involved with the GPA itself and this allowed the interview to delve into other interesting topics such as:
Whether players and managers should have a greater say in-game rule changes
We discuss GPA scholarships which many may not have heard about including the fact that the GPA has 23 partnerships with colleges around Ireland
We discuss the mental health of players and the help that is available
Reconstruction of the championship discussion as well as the question of players’ retirement and lots more
In closing the GPA has a website that you can visit through the link in the button:
I recently spoke to Wesley O Brien who is an Irish Tennis Coach Helping Refugees on ROS FM.
Wesley uses his HIT and HOPE Tennis Programs – to bring Tennis to Kids affected by War and Conflict in Refugee Camps.
He created a Facebook page to raise funds from donated signed sports memorabilia to support the HIT and HOPE Tennis Program.
There is a link to my podcast on the image below
The concept talked about here resonated with me because if any country should feel genuine sympathy for the plight of refugees- it should be us here in Ireland.
We talk with pride about “the Irish diaspora” which came about because millions of our forebears had to escape starvation, oppression and poverty.
Instead of the blame and hate politics that have emerged in the world, we now inhabit maybe we need to reflect upon being better people by being”just human” and remembering our own history and just doing our little bit to help out.
Maybe you could help out this worthy initiative by sharing this post and do your little bit to support Waynes endeavours- by raising awareness of the initiative.
Congratulations are in order for the Buccaneers RFC u14s who won the Connacht U14 League A Final on the 11th December 2021 where they beat Sligo RFC.
A tremendous achievement for this group of players and staff and indeed the club itself.
I am delighted and proud to say that I was the sports therapist for the team so I take some personal pride in what the team has achieved.
Looking forward to the world of Futsal again this month in Estonia.
The Sparta Belfast Futsal Club have appointed me as sports physio for their team who will be competing in the UEFA Futsal tournament later this month in Estonia from the 21st to the 25th August 2021.
Sparta Belfast has qualified for the Futsal UEFA Champions League preliminary round in this tournament being held in Estonia.
I am delighted to be able to bring to the table the experience I have from my involvement in a similar role I filled in Kiev in 2019 for the Irish Diabetic Futsal Team.
Many of you may have limited knowledge about Futsal but to generalise it is a high-intensity indoor football sport that is recognised for being great for ball control and skills and is exciting to watch because it is an attacking form of football that is non stop end-to-end stuff.
I recently did a podcast with Rosemary O Shaughnessy a digital content manager where I explain what I do!
It’s a great achievement for a club like Sparta Belfast to have qualified for a tournament like this, I am thrilled to be part of it all and ask you to support the Sparta club on Facebook.
PODCAST
CHECK OUT THIS FACEBOOK VIDEO INTRODUCING THE SPARTA TEAM
Exercise and how to get fit to support Irish Charities. I have always held the view that worthy charities should be supported as widely as possible. I have posted both here on my site and extensively on social media about charities I believe in. Yes, I have my pet charities but many charities deserve our support in Ireland.
I have been delighted during COVID times to promote charities where you can not only support the charity but get fit as well because that’s a win-win for the charity and indeed us as individuals.
Here are some photos arising out of my recent endeavours!
Team AADI
Children with Autism
Charlie Curran – Memorial Run
In aid of “Downs Syndrome” and “Irish Cancer Society”
If I can do it you can too, and if you need to learn more about these charities contact me through my social channels.
Hi everyone, 2021 is upon us and in these different times and why not Get Fit in 2021 & Support a Great Irish Charity at the same time.
As we know, we as a nation and of course families worldwide have had a tough time with covid in 2020 and now in 2021.
Families have lost loved ones to covid and other conditions. Let’s remember those who passed away in 2020 and let’s honour those people by donating to this great cause and or taking part in this fundraiser.
With all that is going on, I wanted to do something positive and make a small difference by helping this great cause
About the Inititiave
Could you run 100 miles in February to raise funds for patient care in the Mater Hospital?
It’s a tough challenge, but it’ll help critically ill people and will keep you healthy too!
By joining the Mater’s “100 Miles in a Month” Challenge, you’ll be raising funds for life-saving equipment and ground breaking medical research in the Mater, making an incredible difference to patient care.
SHOULDER SPRAIN INJURY This weeks injury that I am covering is a shoulder sprain injury and a case study involving Gerry a good friend of mine. A shoulder sprain...
Sports Injuries Sometimes Need Scans? Sports Injuries Sometimes Need Scans because some injuries that actually need expert intervention are not always obvious....
COVID and sport in Ireland: covid hit our shores with a bang last March but after some time the new norm came, and bit by bit then the country restrictions were slowly being lifted.
Suddenly businesses started to reopen we were allowed to travel further, we could go to the gym again. Little things like being able to meet friends for a coffee, children going back to school sport got back on the agenda again.
People of all ages could go back to training again, albeit under certain guidelines. In a sporting sense, a lot of questions still had to be answered that supporters, committee, coaches were asking :
– When will the Premier League be back?
– When will the Champions League and Europa League be back?
– When is the League of Ireland back on?
– When can Local leagues commence?
– When can ball work and full contact training come back?
– When will GAA matches at club and inter-county at all grades start back?
– When they do come back, what guidelines will be put in place to ensure the safety of all during matches and training?
– Can dressing rooms be used before and after games? If not why not?
– Is there any Grant’s or funding available to sports clubs at all levels across the country and if so what Grant’s are available, how go teams apply and how much?
– can supporters support their team on match day? If not how can supporters watch the games?
These questions were answered in time as the weeks and months that followed.
A new era began in the GAA at club level as due to the restrictions that applied to GAA activity, unfortunately, at first, supporters were not allowed into matches on match day so credit to the Roscommon GAA county board and other county board around the country, games at club level were streamed which enabled supporters from around the county, province, country and around the world were able to follow their clubs from anywhere in the world for very reasonable fees.
The county board and indeed the clubs themselves started streaming games.
I am a sports Therapist but I also present Rosportsview every Wednesday from 6 pm to 7 pm on Rosfm94.6 Community Radio.
I and Ray Lannon do a weekly Podcast called Roscommon GAA Memories then we started doing Matchday Commentary Podcasts at men’s Gaelic Football and Hurling at Junior Intermediate and Senior as well as Roscommon LGFA Club games at Junior Intermediate and Senior level.
All podcasts are available on www.rosfm.ie you can tune into ROS FM on the radio on FM94.6 or on the website www.rosfm.ie/live or on the TuneIn app.
Sport being back on at local level and national level lifted the spirits of this great nation it was great to see it.
Things started to pick up for me with patients starting to return for treatment to AR Sports Therapy Clinic and also the teams I was involved with the fixtures re-commenced and we got promoted.
As time went on…..we adapted to the new norm and we started to appreciate the little things in life which perhaps we didn’t before as we took them for granted. We could travel again and go on holidays and the new buzzword ‘Staycation’ came into play and we all felt that we should support our own economy and go to places in Ireland. Life was still not the same but a lot better than when we were in lockdown.
Personally delighted to get a mention above! 
Sparta Belfast has qualified for the Futsal 
