O'Shea commits to another year

All-Ireland winning manager Pat O'Shea has effectively committed himself to another year with the Kerry senior football team, believing he can continue in that role along with his position as Games Officer with the Munster Council. A formal agreement with the Kerry county board and the Munster Council is now expected within the coming weeks.

"We just haven't really had the time yet to sit down since the All-Ireland," said O'Shea. "We've had a lot of engagements, so nothing concrete has been decided yet. Hopefully a decision will be made fairly soon, and to be fair, I do have to sit down and speak with the Munster Council. But I would be confident alright that I'd be able to handle both."

O'Shea was speaking in Croke Park at the launch of the GAA's new coaching and learning initiatives - the Fun Do coaching DVD and Ceim Ar Aghaidh/Step Ahead educational resource - and yet inevitably his thoughts were still on Kerry's All-Ireland victory of just over a fortnight ago.

"It's still hard to put it into context," he added. "We're in the game because we enjoy doing it. We talk about burnout and all of that, but I love the cut and thrust of being involved in games. And this is actually a very difficult time of the year for me, the withdrawal symptoms, almost. You get such a buzz from being involved with the team, the preparation and training, and thinking about tactics. That has been great, and that's what we're in the game for."

Yet it appears his success with Kerry this year - managing them to the first back-to-back All-Irelands in 17 years, in his first season as manager - also came with an awareness that failure is always waiting around the corner, highlighted by the recent faring of the Irish rugby team.

"We all walk the thin line between success and failure," reckoned O'Shea. "And if you're on the side of failure the criticism can be very cutting. Here we are 24 hours after Ireland were knocked out of the Rugby World Cup, and some of the criticism of that team has been amazing, really. I know that's a professional game, and we're amateurs. But even six weeks ago that was the best prepared Irish rugby team ever. Unfortunately it didn't work out for them, and I think the criticism is fairly intense at the moment."

O'Shea also suggested that intercounty GAA players are facing unprecedented pressure, particularly with the ever-increasing media spotlight, but that one way of dealing with that was to be as open as possible.

"There is pressure of course, and in that sense the playing part is the easiest part. We talk about equipping players, and there is huge pressure on the players at the moment, particularly with what they have to deal with after matches. And of course there's fierce pressure around playing an All-Ireland final as well, but that's the whole reason for playing the game in the first place, to get into the final. So if you can't deal with the pressure, don't get into the kitchen.

"So with GAA players, a lot of the time, it's about getting used to the pressure. And that's why the media bans, I don't think, are a good idea. All you do is put them in a goldfish bowl and leave them there to be shot at, because they were never equipped to deal with the media. And they felt the media were the enemy. Personally I couldn't understand that. I've found that you put players under more pressure by not making them available, and that's why I've tried to make my players available as much as possible."

O'Shea also played down recent suggestions that some of his panel were planning a break from the game, most notably Colm Gooch Cooper, who was reportedly considering a year in Australia: "Sure his name constantly comes up, about going away. I think Colm is very happy where he is, enjoys his work, and Killarney. Obviously he needs a break of some sort, as do all the players, because it is an amateur game."

The Fun Do learning resource pack, an interactive aid for those coaching young children, and the Céim ar Aghaidh/Step Ahead educational resource pack, will assist in teaching the core primary school subjects through the medium of Gaelic Games.

The Fun Do pack includes an interactive DVD, which combines the latest technology with practical resources that will make it user-friendly to even the least techno-minded individual.

The Céim ar Aghaidh resource can be used to support teaching in a variety of subject areas and the exercises can be adapted to suit children of varying abilities through differentiated worksheets, and both initiatives were produced with the support of a number of partners including the Irish Sports Council, An Bord Bia, The RTE Sports department, The Irish Times, Safe Food and Forás na Gaeilge.