School is out and I am thrilled, exactly 12 weeks to focus on the clinic, study and of course to relax! This is a great opportunity to explain how my two careers link so well! Being a physical education, biology, and science teacher, as well as a physical therapist, allows me to combine my knowledge of these fields to provide a well-rounded education for both my students and patients.

As a physical education and biology teacher, I play a crucial role in promoting physical fitness, health, and overall well-being among students. I have the opportunity to educate students about the importance of exercise, nutrition, in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I teach fundamental movement skills , mobility, strength and conditioning, along with sports specific skills. All of such attributes are the foundations of a healthy adulthood. I also incorporate elements of physical therapy into my teaching. In class we have great conversations about injuries, first aid procedures, human anatomy, physiology and biomechanics. Indeed we may even have the odd teacher knocking on the door to act as a “model” for demonstrating a physical therapy session!

In the clinic all this knowledge transfers across seamlessly. Being a physical therapist allows me to provide individualised care and rehabilitation to people who have suffered injuries or have physical limitations. I assess patients’ conditions, develop treatment plans, and guide them through exercises and therapeutic activities to improve their strength, mobility, and function. Of course my understanding of biology greatly contributes my ability to diagnose and treat various musculoskeletal and neuromuscular conditions. My understanding of science also plays a vital role here. In the clinic I act as a scientist. I my subjective assessment I create a hypothesis, an educated guess on what muscles may require attention, in my objective assessment I test these muscles and either support or contradict my hypothesis. From there I work on changing one thing, in science this is known as a variable, when one thing is changed, I know the effect has or has not come from that one variable and this method continues until the client has reached their goal. The exact same method applies to a fat loss client, change, monitor, and adapt! It is such a simple process and it works so effectively. Of course my understanding of sports and sports specific movements are a phenomenal addition to have in the clinic. These skills mean that not only can I assist plays return to play following injury I can also work with athletes to enhance their performance and future proof them from developing injuries.

Overall, the link between the two really comes down to helping people. In the clinic I get the opportunity to directly impact people’s lives by helping them recover from injuries, regain mobility, manage chronic conditions, and improve their overall quality of life. In the classroom I get the opportunity to shape young minds. As a teacher, I have privilege of educating and inspiring students, helping them develop a love for physical activity, science, biology all in hopes of instilling in them positive habits which will contribute to a life of success in health and career.

All in all, I may live a very busy lifestyle, but it is also a very rewarding lifestyle. (And that’s before I ever start talking about the pitch side career!)

Formulating Fitness Clinic is based in Tralee, Co Kerry. The clinic specialises in helping clients to return to feeling their best after injury, illness or time spent away from physical activity, movement and optimal nutrition.

The clinic is run by Maura Leen. Maura is a qualified neuromuscular therapist and personal trainer. She is also a physical education and biology teacher and holds a masters of research in sports for children with disabilities.

Maura has over ten years’ experience working in the sports and health industry and sport and exercise have always been an important part of her life. She has played competitive basketball, football whilst also completing various running events, cycling events, and adventure races. She currently concentrates her time on gym-based training and golf.

Maura is passionate about helping her clients to live pain free, with optimal functioning joints and muscles. Maura believes that pain free movement is a fundamental aspect of wellbeing regardless of an individuals age and involvement in sports. Maura offers her knowledge and experience in the treatment of pain and injury, as well as the prescription of exercise, mobility and nutrition plans.  

Neuromuscular Therapy Session – 60 euro Dry Needling/Electro Dry Needling Session 60 euro Dry Cupping/ Myofascial Release Session – 60 euro Sports Massage Session – 60 euro

A Neuromuscular Therapy Session Explained

Neuromuscular Physical Therapy (Neuromuscular therapy) is a modern scientific based approach that focuses on the neural and musculoskeletal system of the body. The therapy focuses on the treatment of soft tissue pain, injury and changes in sensation.

Maura combines her knowledge of neuromuscular therapy with the sports pro acedemy approach to create a unique method of assessing and treating pain, injury and movement inadequacies.

A neuromuscular therapy session begins with a subjective assessmnet of the clients current issues, the story of injury, the stresses the injury now causes and any previous injuries are first explained to Maura.

This is followed by an assessment of movement, submaximal muscle tests and specific pathology testing if neccessary. Pathology testing is used in incidences of acute pain to check for tendon or ligamnet damage most typically following sports injuries. Submaximal muscle testing essentially assesses which muscles of the body are working optimally and which muscles are not.

Following these assessments Maura uses a combination of on table work and exercises to restore the muscles to optimal working capacity. On table work includes hand on palpation and tissue release with dry needling, electro dry needling, cupping and myofasical release being used as neccessary or as requested by the client.

A treatment session typically lasts 45-75 minutes and is followed by an after care email detailing exercises given and a summary of the tratment findings.

A treatment session costs 60 euro.

Specific dry needling, elro dry needling, dry cupping , myofascial release and sports massage sessions can also be booked at a cost of 60 euro per session

To book your session contact Maura today Tel: 0879384748 Email: Formulatingfitness@gmail.com Instagram: Formulating_fitness Facebook: Maura Leen

Further information can be found via the tabs below.

2021/2022 the years I made the biggest investments in the most important person- Myself.

I invested in three coaches (actually four I forgot to count golf!) and they were the best decisions I ever made.

I invested in my education, my finances, and my physique. I talk a lot about my investment in education. That is nothing new to me, I have been consistently educating myself since college, 2007. This year I became a member of the pro sport academy, and it has solidified my practice as a neuromuscular therapist. I have written about this in my past blog called ‘Neuromuscular therapy enhancing my approach click the tab below to have a read.

This blog will focus on my investment in my physique. When I started formulating Fitness I did so under one condition – If the business got in the way of my own health and fitness, I was giving it up, no questions, it wasn’t worth it.

I was very fortunate to be able to afford a lot of gym equipment during lockdown and to continue my training from home over covid. My training was never bad it was a combination of weightlifting and cross fit style stuff (none of the fancy fancy lifts now mind) and I have a very solid knowledge of nutrition, so I managed to stay fit, and relatively strong all through the first half of 2021. Which was all rosey until the business started getting busier and I was landing home late tired and not one bit interested in planning a workout for myself, let alone actually doing it.  The gym I was a member in was a good 10-minute drive away, again another daunting task after an evening’s work, so I had reached that point where my one condition was being tested.

It was when two footballers that I work with who are both personal trainers told me that they both had their own coaches, that the idea took hold- get yourself a coach Maura. And away I went! A good friend was always chatting about her coach, they sounded good, and just happened to be working out of the gym around the corner from my clinic, I literally had no excuses I had to give it a go!

In November 2021 I started training in Hercules gym in Tralee and it was by far the best decision I ever made!! I walked in the door clueless as to how a single weights machine in the place worked! I was not a bodybuilder (I still am not one) and I was probably a bit judgemental about bodybuilders but that quickly changed (I am now in awe of their discipline). My original plan was to train twice a week with the coach and the rest on my own. After my second session I was hooked, and I upped it to four sessions a week. It was a whole new formula of training for me, divided into hamstrings, quads, shoulders and back. Training with a coach was fantastic, because I am in the industry, I soaked up the knowledge, and my coach was more than happy to share his wisdom. I saw it as a double investment, an investment in my physique but also in my education, nice one. I also invested in the coach for a nutrition plan- again to give me one less job to do and the combination was magic. I put away my phone (no recording shit for Instagram) and I put myself to work, on the days I didn’t want to work I worked harder. It wasn’t long until I started to notice results, I could (and will) write a separate blog on the results. In six months, my form and my physique have been totally overhauled, I’m now less quad dominant, I have a strong posterior chain, hamstrings, glutes, rhomboids, infraspinatus, supraspinatus, serratus posterior, lats, and erector spinae and the mad thing is the scales has not changed one bit!

I have taken a break from working with a coach for the summer, but I am still training on my own ( throwing some up on Instagram) using the same methods but also adding in some home sessions too abeit my nutrition has been a bit lax to date. I envisage I will be back to getting coached by the end of the year.

I would highly recommend investing. Investing in yourself, be it a PT, a life coach, an interview coach, invest and you will grow, learn, and prosper.

If you have any questions about my new training style, the coach I used etc just get in touch.

When I think of nutrition for sports performance, I don’t just think about the performance event, I also think about the training. For me the training is more important because what’s completed in training is to an extend executed and repeated in the performance. Nutrition is therefore essential for both and should be relatively (if not completely) consistent for both.

Nutrition for sports performance is broad because different sporting events require different stimuli. For example, a powerlifter requires short bursts of energy to lift heavy objects over a small period of time, whereas a marathon runner requires a long-sustained source of energy. For the purposes of this article, I’m going to look at fuelling the body for GAA – a time spam of 70-95 minutes, the norm of training, or a game that goes into extra time.

Full in season GAA training can be tedious, with most teams training twice a week, a game every week to every second week and potentially some kind of gym session (or two) in between. Training and playing involves both short distance intermittent sprints, longer durations of submaximal running, and general continuous movement (jogging, walking) for the duration of a game/training session. On top of that add in some polymetrics jumping, kicking, and handpassing (a polymetric throw) and you have a body that needs optimal fuel to perform.

The main source of this movement fuel is carbohydrates. Carbohydrates will fill your muscle glycogen stores which the body will use after it has used its initial ATP- PC stores along (ATP-PC system can sustain all-out exercise for up to 10-15 seconds) which is pretty much straight away.

To calculate the carbohydrates, you require, first assess your overall maintenance calories. If you don’t know you daily calories requirements the Katch Mc Cardle method is the best one to search on the internet. Calories want to be at maintenance, as a surplus may lead to unnecessary fat gain and a deficit may lead to unnecessary protein loss (more about that soon) and being in a deficit will also hamper performance.

Once maintenance calories are set then you need to assess the amount required for training and competition days. Realistically you are probably not resting for three days in a row so a three-day tapering method is not suitable, instead opt with the two day version. This means two days before a game; you want to maximise your glycogen stores by eating low GI carbohydrate foods. You should aim to consume 6-10g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight per day. For the 80kg athlete this means 480g to 800g of carbohydrates per day, from sources such as oats, brown rice, wholegrain pasta, sweet potato and wholemeal bread (although some may find bread impacts digestion).

Game day then should just be about topping up these stores without impacting digestion, keeping hunger at bay, and keeping well hydrated. Research suggests doing this involves eating a meal which contains low GI (and low fibre) carbohydrates and some protein 2-4 hours pregame. This  however I believe is very dependent on the athlete and what works for them specifically on game day, if you cant stomach food 2 hours prior to a game, then don’t do it, regardless of what science says. Instead utilise the method that works best for you, just keep in mind low GI carbohydrates are key, negotiate types and amounts to suit self.

Once adequately fuelled, the next gaol is to stay adequately hydrated. The process is simple, drink the fluids.  In generally day to day life a person should drink 1 litre of water per every 23kg of body weight, or 2 litres per every 2,000 calories expended during the day. The former is easiest to calculate. The best source of hydration is water or course, after which energy drinks are an option.

With energy drinks there are three types

• Hypotonic – have some carbohydrates and a lower particle content of salt and sugar than in the body fluids (low osmolality)
• Isotonic – a higher amount of carbohydrates and similar sugar and salt particle content (same osmolality) as in the body
• Hypertonic- Higher levels of carbohydrate and higher levels of sugar and salt (higher osmolality) than body fluids

The first two are during competition options which hypertonic being used post competition to replenish carbohydrate stores. Which takes us to the final part post game nutrition.

After competition you want to replenish glycogen stores, replenish fluid losses and regenerate and repair muscle damage. To replenish glycogen stores a high GI carbohydrate meal is necessary, 1g per kg of body weight of foods such as white bread, white rice, white pasta, the odd person might even dip into the coco pops here. Fluid intake should be predominantly water and perhaps an isotonic drink (hypertonic are hard to get hold off on the Irish market). The next meal should then include protein. Protein is king for all things muscle: building, repairing it and preserving it. Ideally one should be consuming 1.2-2g of protein per kg of body weight. Probable not realistic coming up to and on a game day to be hitting the higher end of that spectrum but worth considering on the proceeding days after a game. Protein sources shough be high-quality low-fat meats such as mince, turkey, chicken, fish, eggs, protein powder. So post game lower the carbohydrates down to normal values and increase the protein.

That is all well in good but how do I work it all out now. Simple

Step One – Estimate your calorie needs (use the catch mc Kardle formula)

Step Two – Estimate your carbohydrate needs. Start at the lower end of the spectrum 4-6g per kg of body weight (4g non training days 6g the two days prior to a game)

Step Three – Estimate protein needs, 1.2g – 2g per kg of body weight

Step Four – Estimate fat needs, basically the remainder of calories should go to fats

Step Five – Use my fitness Pal to track all this food and get yourself used to portion sizes and macronutrient content

Step Six – Trial and error. If you haven’t assessed and micromanaged your nutrition in this depth before then don’t go hell for leather and eat 800g of carbohydrates next Friday and Saturday before a game! Slow and stead wins the race. Start with the basics, eating at maintenance with a balanced amount of carbohydrates for one to two weeks, once you’ve adapted well to this then start adjusting, up the carbohydrates to the next kg, see how this impacts performance for training, then repeat again. It will take time to find the balance that works best for you, you might increase by a certain amount for training and up that amount pregame, or you might find that a certain amount works best regardless if the event is training or a game. You will only find the best approach for you by trailing a few. Once you do find that balance you will be 100% sure that you are optimally (and science supported!) fuelled to perform at your best for yourself and your team.

Note that this article has not mentioned supplements, this article is aimed to deal with the foundations, solid nutrition, only once that base is established should someone source additional nutritional aids, as supplements do exactly what the name suggest, enhance the diet, not replace missing elements of the diet. A blog post on which will surely follow at some point.

For now if you have any questions regarding your nutrition, do not hesitate to get in touch with me through my social media platform, WhatsApp or email.

Its good Friday, a day of fast, no meat. I’ll still eat my turkey burgers, not because I want to rebel against a belief system, more because protein is a powerful and integral part of my diet.

There is consistent scientific research emerging expressing the need for the general population to increase their protein content. Protein makes up part of every single cell in your body, tendons, ligaments, muscles, organs, deep in the origin, protein is embedded. It is needed for their formation, their growth and their repair and renewal. Along with that protein is needed for all the chemical reactions that occur in the body- in the form of enzymes (tiny structures that speed up chemical reactions). It is required for hormone production and neurotransmitter (nervous system components) function and if needed protein can also be used as fuel.  All in all, protein does a lot.

For me I look at protein in terms of two different clients- The client with a neuromuscular therapy issue and the client with a body composition goal.

For the client with a neuromuscular therapy issue, I am assessing protein content with a view towards muscle repair. Basically, there is a balance of protein synthesis (the building work) and protein breakdown (the destructive work) that needs to be maintained for adequate recovery.

The word protein itself is a Greek word meaning ‘Of first Importance’. Protein is most especially importance if a client has an injury that has required muscle immobilisation for repair. In such injuries loss of muscle mass and strength in function can be experienced in as little as five days due to a reduction in basal muscle protein synthesis from lack of stimulation to the muscle. Other research suggests that protein loss can occur as early as 36 hours post injury. So, if protein is needed for growth and repair then it becomes fairly obvious that a lack of protein in the diet will impeded the bodies’ ability to heal. A low protein diet will impair wound healing, impede inflammation (which is needed to a certain threshold) and intensify loss of muscle and tendon mass and function. At best the client will want to eat the baseline recommendations of protein intake per day 1g per 1kg of body weight but higher intakes of 1.6g to 2.2g approximately  per kg of body weight may prove beneficial (Tipton, 2015) .

The second client, the client with the body composition goal, 99% of such want to increase muscle mass and decrease body fat percentages and a high protein diet works well for this.

First off, a higher protein diet leads to higher diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT). In other words, you need more calories to digest protein than to digest carbs or fat, therefore you are burning calories to break it down, ideal. Along with this eating more protein can decrease your appetite, as protein has a high satiety effect and keeps you feeling full for longer. This is exceptionally beneficially in if you are in a calorie deficient (eating less calories than the body needs, the only scientifically proven method of losing fat). It makes sense if your body is trying to function on less calories then it needs, then it will scream hunger, so if eating a higher protein diet quietens the hunger monster, it would be beneficial that you would do it.  Finally, as mentioned earlier there is protein synthesis and protein tissue loss co-occurrence which needs to be balanced, the latter wants to be prevented and maybe even the opposite achieved (increased protein synthesis) during a body composition goal period. To make it simple while cutting fat you want to at least maintain muscle mass (some will try to gain) and the learner you get the harder this becomes. The consensus within the literature is that eating a higher protein diet can prevent this from happening. In terms of this most protein researcher currently advises consuming higher protein in the range of 1.6g–2.7 g per 1 kg of body weight while dieting to offset body protein losses to help preserve muscle mass, to increase energy output and to increase satiety.

There is so much more to consider and delve into when it comes to protein, sources, vegetarian and veganism, timing of protein etc, but for now this Easter weekend consider adding a few chicken eggs to the chocolate egg diet!!

For more information on my nutrition approach check out my website and new food Instagram page nutrition_formulatingfitness

Happy Easter,

Maura

An analysis of movement of locomotion, that is what biomechanics is.

Through studying the locomotion of thousands of individuals sports scientists have established set criteria that the bones and muscles of the body need to do effectively and efficiently to move optimally.

If person cannot squat efficiently is that a worry- yes, but if they can squat with ninety percent efficiency and do it consistently and pain free is that a worry – for me no. If this person was an Olympic athlete, well then yes, absolutely, but for much of the general population having little deviations in biomechanics is normal.

Basically, biomechanics bothers me when it needs to, but most often it doesn’t and when you think about anatomy that makes more sense. 

We are all different, every anatomy book lists muscles their origin and insertion points and as a therapist we learn these off religiously. In reality however people don’t reflect anatomy books. For instance, everyone’s trapezius muscle will not insert into their 12th rib, for some it might be the 11th, some people have an extra hip flexor muscle, the psoas minor, the sciatic nerve in some people runs above a muscle called piriformis, it runs below the muscle and even through the muscle in others. My belief is that we are all built a little differently therefore we all move a little differently. 

In what I do my aim is to assess how someone’s pain or issue is affecting their movements of daily activity that might include, sitting on a chair, hanging up the washing, picking up a child for others it might include a sports movement, swinging a golf club, shooting a basketball, kicking a football. My aim is to assist the client in returning to do the things that are important to them, pain free and as efficiently as possible.

My aim is to improve and eliminate the issue- without getting into the nitty gritty of biomechanics. I place a little more trust in the body knowing through evolution how to move to execute movements, I just need to remind and redirect the nervous system back through its most suitable pathway. This is achieved by assessing the muscle to see if the nervous system is cooperating with it through testing. When muscles become overactive or inhibited, they have altered their connection with the nervous system, which has in turned changed its pathway to activate muscles needed to perform a movement or action. This new pathway is not the ideal pathway and so a person will eventually start to experience pain or notice a change in their movement in one form or another.

An example of this is movement through a squat.  A regular gym goer who used to squat (with pretty good form) twice a week with a job that involves standing and walking has taken up a new job driving for eight hours a day. The demand of the job means the client has stopped going to the gym, instead coming home to the couch for the evening. The glute muscles that were being giving constant neural input through squatting and walking are now being recruited less. After a few weeks the client returns to the gym and to squatting. They find it hard to lift their previous weight but power on and do it anyway, although their squat depth (form) is not the same. They wake up the next day with lower back pain. A probable cause- the glute muscles are inhibited, they almost switched off because the persons daily movement has changed so the nervous system had to recruit different muscles in order to execute the squat movement- the quadratus lumborum (QL) and iliocostalis etc. (lower back muscles) took over. In other words the muscles pathway of working has been changes and altered.

Client visits my clinic, I’ll assess their posture, look at their squat (if they can execute the movement pain free) then assess the muscles. Apply hands on treatment to reignite nervous input to the glutes, and release trigger points in the overactive QL muscles (basiclly correct whatever pathway issues present). I’ll follow this with a graded expose plan to reintroduce the client to executing the squat movement and tolerating load again.  I will also equip the client with a full body mobility plan (because the person is driving and stationary for so much of the day).

That for me is what biomechanics is all about. I’ll help them return to their optimal movement, they might still have little deviations in their squat form but if its ninety percent good, if its not going to potentially cause them an injury and if they are back doing what they love pain free then I’m not going to be bothering them and annoying them with overcomplicated biomechanical lingo.

I will not have a client leave the clinic saying, “yeah I feel better I’m squatting again pain free but I’m squatting wrong, she said I should have 7% more extension in the first phase of the downward movement”. Essentially the client has left feeling like they have taken, two steps forward and three steps back and that’s not what I am about.

So if you are moving fairly optimally, you are of the general population who has no major aspirations to beat Usain bolts 100m record, allow yourself to have those unique little movement deviations as long as they are not causing you issues.

“Your excuses- you really don’t need to outsource an expert in them your that expert – harsh but true”.

It’s the first day of January, your probably tired of the confusion of Christmas, the guilt that comes from doing nothing and eating everything. You are ready for normality to return and with it comes the expectations you place on yourself for the year- the things we call new years resolutions.

Every nook and cranny have started advertising, for the next few weeks you will be bombarded with the “diet plan you need”, the “gym membership that will change your life”, “the skiing jacket that’s 70% off”- you have no intention of ever going skiing.

You can’t blame people for advertising, I will do it, folk must earn a living. Yes, you might have an extrinsic goal for the new year that does require you to outsource support, and that is absolutely fine but there’s another source we should all be listening to a little more- our intuition.

There is no explanation for it, if you start to think about it, it blows your mind.  We did it ourselves, intuitively, every cell in your body was formed, turned you into a human, knew when you were ready to be born, ready to start talking, walking, still doing it, cells constantly renewing themselves, bone growing, fusing, neurons firing wiring, choosing paths, choosing and we do not think how this is all being dictated.

At some stage the noises on the outside, the experts the people we see as successful take over and drown out that little niggling feeling on the inside- intuition.

It is time to start trusting it again, listening to it – going inwards for the information. Trust your intuition, realise that you have this inner intelligence, this knowing, this knowing will lead you to become what you are.

Take the conundrum of fat loss for instance – search inwards and you know the answer. For me right now I know that if I want to lose fat I need to stop drinking alcohol as it causes me to eat high processed, high fats, high calorie foods which lack nutrients. I already know, I don’t need to google it.

If the goal is to run 5km, search inward- our ancestors did so no problem before us, they didn’t follow any couch to 5km program, they just listened to their bodies- their intuition.   

If the goal is to have more energy- you know where to look, your sleep routine, your diet and hydration, your exercise regime, your stress levels – no one else can analyse them for you, you’re the person who experiences them.

Your finances, your relationships, you’re your career, you get the drift – trust the inner knowledge in all areas of life.  Don’t surrender your own inner knowledge, always give it its place it deserves,  no one knows you better than you.

“Your excuses- you really don’t need to outsource an expert in them your that expert – harsh but true”.

It’s the first day of January, your probably tired of the confusion of Christmas, the guilt that comes from doing nothing and eating everything. You are ready for normality to return and with it comes the expectations you place on yourself for the year- the things we call new years resolutions.

Every nook and cranny have started advertising, for the next few weeks you will be bombarded with the “diet plan you need”, the “gym membership that will change your life”, “the skiing jacket that’s 70% off”- you have no intention of ever going skiing.

You can’t blame people for advertising, I will do it, folk must earn a living. Yes, you might have an extrinsic goal for the new year that does require you to outsource support, and that is absolutely fine but there’s another source we should all be listening to a little more- our intuition.

There is no explanation for it, if you start to think about it, it blows your mind.  We did it ourselves, intuitively, every cell in your body was formed, turned you into a human, knew when you were ready to be born, ready to start talking, walking, still doing it, cells constantly renewing themselves, bone growing, fusing, neurons firing wiring, choosing paths, choosing and we do not think how this is all being dictated.

At some stage the noises on the outside, the experts the people we see as successful take over and drown out that little niggling feeling on the inside- intuition.

It is time to start trusting it again, listening to it – going inwards for the information. Trust your intuition, realise that you have this inner intelligence, this knowing, this knowing will lead you to become what you are.

Take the conundrum of fat loss for instance – search inwards and you know the answer. For me right now I know that if I want to lose fat I need to stop drinking alcohol as it causes me to eat high processed, high fats, high calorie foods which lack nutrients. I already know, I don’t need to google it.

If the goal is to run 5km, search inward- our ancestors did so no problem before us, they didn’t follow any couch to 5km program, they just listened to their bodies- their intuition.   

If the goal is to have more energy- you know where to look, your sleep routine, your diet and hydration, your exercise regime, your stress levels – no one else can analyse them for you, you’re the person who experiences them.

Your finances, your relationships, you’re your career, you get the drift – trust the inner knowledge in all areas of life.  Don’t surrender your own inner knowledge, always give it its place it deserves,  no one knows you better than you.

There was outrage in Kerry after O’Sé was quoted in last week’s Sunday Independent saying Kerry people were “the roughest type of fucking animals you could ever deal with” and added: “You can print that”. (Paidi O’ Se 2003).

I praise his honesty; no truer words were spoken- with respect to a minority of fans. Not just county fans but club fans too. You’ll know this if you have experienced it, standing in the freezing cold as a spectator, watching but also hearing, hearing the gobshite verbally destroying a player because they didn’t catch a high ball, not realising or caring that they player’s family and loved ones are in the near vicinity- I nearly decked him.

Fast forward a few years now I’m pitch side working outdoors due to covid treating a player’s groin issues and on arrives the same type of gobshite with his camera out to get a few snaps for the socials- again I nearly decked him.

In my opinion Paidi was right, the minority of supporters can be animals, but my question is can they be supportive? Can we be more supportive of our community members, those lads and ladies that commit to training week in week out, often travelling for sessions, those that commit their weekend to games, their summers to championships, all to help their local club reap the rewards of winning trophies and medals. We all support them players then, but can we support them now?

Its December GAA is winding down for the year and AGMS are starting up, communities are coming together to put a management team in place to get their club to a county final, to avoid relegation, to get the best out of a group of lads or ladies who want to represent their village on the pitch. They’ll invest in chairperson, a manager, some selectors but will they invest in pitch side first aid?

“We have no money for a physio” “Can you come along and strap two lads, the games in half an hour” Are you for real- no I’m not available- likelihood is I could be available but I’m not investing in that.

Truth is it drives me mad that clubs do not prioritise the welfare of their players, it’s absolutely mad.

Denmark’s Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest when he collapsed during his side’s Euro 2020 opening match against Finland- who says it cannot happen on a Sunday morning on a GAA pitch in rural south west Ireland and if it does who can use the deliberator? That is what I am trained to do – in my opinion that’s why I am there, to deal with the big things, the things no one considers every could happen, the semi-conscious concussion, the dislocated shoulder, all the fun stuff.

Ninety-nine percent of the time I won’t be faced with anything of the like but the importance of having me there prevails.  Yet it worries me how little importance some clubs place on for the need for pitch side first aid. I’d go as far as saying it’s an insult to the players that their communities feel there’s no need to have their injuries looked after, their players welfare looked after. I use the word community because ultimately it is the communities’ funds that have been invested into the club that are used pay the first aider.

The quick and effective work of pitch side first aid can make a huge difference on whether a player will play the rest of the season or not and that should not be taken for granted. It is my job to prevent injury and to prevent the worsening of injuries. This starts in the dressing room before the game when I assess, treat, advise, tape and strap to avert injuries. It continues when I am pitch side, there to deal with any injuries that happen during the game and after wards to further assess and treat and advise.

It is of course made a whole lot easier when you work with a team consistently, when you know the players, their injuries, and their progress, even knowing their name is beneficial when roaring at them across the pitch.

I have been very fortunate over the last two years to be involved with excellent teams and management who have put player welfare to the forefront of their priorities. I hope other teams can follow suit and I urge any players, parents, community member and club representatives to speak up and ensure funds are put in place to care for the players that bring so much socialisation, elation, and delight to their villages and parishes year in and year out.