Fr Liam Power: A great day for the Ballygunner Parish

A great day for the Ballygunner Parish as our hurling heroes bring home the Tommy Moore Cup. 

Ballygunner are All-Ireland Club champions again. I’ll never forget the excitement, the sense of anticipation in our parish in the weeks leading up to the final last Sunday week. People were really looking forward to the game in Croke Park. There was a quiet confidence that the team would be victorious this year.

Looking forward to the game lifted our spirits in the dark, gloomy winter days after Christmas; I celebrated the 10.00am Mass on the morning of the match. The sermon was curtailed. I don’t think parishioners complained! And straight into the car heading for Croke Park...arriving just in time for the throw-in. 

The atmosphere was absolutely electric. Surrounded by thousands of Ballygunner fans, it was so lovely to meet the family members of the players: parents, siblings, partners. I felt privileged to share in their pride and joy and nervousness as the ball was thrown in and the game got underway. 

Here they were sons, brothers, partners, cousins etc representing their club, their parish at the highest level.

I have come to appreciate the dedication of parents and families of the players, from providing cooked meals for the players after training, supporting the very heavy training schedule offering every encouragement… when confidence might begin to sag.

Loughrea put it up to Ballygunner in the first half. The second half of the match was a vintage Ballygunner display. It is always inspirational to behold how united the players are as a team. 

There is obviously a great bond between them, a bond forged through hours and hours of dedicated training. Many of them travelling from as far away as Dublin to attend evening sessions in McGinn Park. 

Nearly all the players progressed through the Balygunner Academy from an early age. The older players acting as mentors for the younger ones. The comradeship is palpable on the pitch.

All the finer skills of hurling were on display. It was majestic to see the team in flow as it were passing with such pinpoint accuracy. 

The first touch was executed with precision. Stephen O’Keefe kept us alive in the first half with a series of brilliant saves. His distribution from puck-outs was top class. 

Paraic O’Mahony's free-taking was as reliable as ever. In so many ways, I see him as the spiritual leader of the team.

Huge credit is due to the management to enable the team to achieve such a level of excellence and to perform so consistently is a remarkable achievement.

The joy and exhilaration after the final whistle was something rarely experienced. A deeply emotional moment, people around me hugged and wept. A palpable sense of pride in our local team, our local place, our local village, Ballygunner.

After the presentation of the Tommy Moore Cup to joint captains Peter Hogan and Michael Mahony, and celebrating the moment with families and parishioners generally, it was into the car again to get to Ballygunner in time for the homecoming of the team. 

The forecourt in St Mary’s Church in Ballygunner provided the ideal setting to welcome home the heroes, festooned as it was in black and red bunting and black and red lighting projected onto the walls of the church, 

A huge crowd assembled; it was a carnival atmosphere. When the team was introduced carrying the Tommy Moore Cup, the crowd just erupted. It was a palpable display of pride and jubilation, the glory of the team’s achievement reflected in the hearts of all Ballygunner people. It was so inspiring for me to see our community so united, so together, so full of pride in our local place and local club. That surely is the beauty of sport and it helps us to appreciate the spiritual dimension.

Building up community, giving people a sense of belonging are fundamental tenets of the Christian faith. The intensity of the teamwork displayed by the players reflects a deep commitment to the overall good of the team, not just personal glory. 

It echoes the Christian conviction that we must support each other throughout life and be willing to sacrifice for the good of others. The level of sacrifice demanded of the players in pursuit of such a level of excellence in their sport and their willingness to commit must surely be hugely inspirational for the younger generation. 

They are exemplary role models, in that they developed their God-given talents and skills to the fullest and in the process inspired a community. In that sense sport can be one of the great builders of character.

Let’s hope that the success of the Ballygunner team will continue to inspire kids to participate in sport and to realise their own God-given potential.