Richard Hogan: Why our kids need the GAA more than ever

But the camaraderie was great: Heading off to a game on the coach, messing around before training with friends from school or playing the local rival team. There was so much learning in those moments: Getting yourself ready, boots and water, what you were like under pressure, your ability to deal with people, what people thought of you, how to be a part of a team. It was all incredibly important for a young, developing mind.

And none of it was possible without the time and effort of local volunteers. I didn’t think about them at that age, of how busy these men and women were and yet made time for us local children. I remember when Teddy McCarthy visited our primary school with the Sam Maguire in 1989. It was the stuff of childhood dreams. Of course, we had our own stars in our under-12s team.

Mark Barry was someone we all admired; his talent and energy not easily replicated and his father, with his open-top Mercedes, bringing all the lads to MacDonalds after the game. Golden times.

Mark now trains the next generation of Cork stars in Douglas GAA club, giving back what he received all those years ago.

The GAA gives so much to communities throughout this country and abroad. And it means so much to people. I can vividly recall my first time seeing the sacred ground of Croke Park.

I was eight years old. I had never seen so many people in my life. The atmosphere, the colours, the pitch, the history, the friendly banter between counties. Magic.

So, when my middle daughter, Lizzy (9), told me she wanted to join the local GAA team, St Sylvester’s, I was thrilled; finally, I might have a Cork hurler. Although she quickly pointed out the flaw in my logic: She’s a ‘Dub’. And a proud ‘Dub’ at that and it’s called camogie.

Over Easter, I went down and watched her play in a blitz. There were around 10 teams from the surrounding area, all playing against each other. It was a powerful spectacle to behold.

All these young girls from all different areas of North Dublin, joined by their love of GAA. I was really struck by the amount of talent that was on display, the fearlessness of the girls, but also the amount of volunteers that were there on a cold, blustery Saturday morning, supporting, managing and developing these young girls’ interest in our national games.

I was reminded of my own childhood, and all the volunteers that stood on the side of a wet pitch and supported and encouraged us young hopefuls.

The teams paraded around the all-weather pitch in Malahide and the lead marcher, with bagpipes, had lines of girls trailing after him, chanting their anthem.

I thought about all the volunteers who had given so much of themselves, so that children could have something positive to do on a Saturday morning or Tuesday evening. All that effort was manifesting itself in front of me. Those girls were there because so many people had given themselves selflessly down through the generations.

Those are the real heroes in our community. They are often silent, and uncelebrated.

In a time of social media, ubiquitous internet and smartphones, we need the GAA more than ever.

It gives children and young adults time away from their devices and time to be with each other.

Never has that been more important than today. Team sports help children to develop critical skills and build a reservoir of coping mechanisms that are so vitally important for being resilient through life.

I have been fortunate to be involved with RTÉ’s television show Raised By the Village, where urban teens take a break from technology and immerse themselves in rural life.

Nearly all the teenagers we have worked with lost contact with the GAA in their life at home, but in their experience living with a new family down the country, they reconnected with the GAA and loved it.

In fact, so many people contacted me to express how much they admired the coaches and how they positively encouraged the urban teenagers. We all need people from outside our families to see something in us, that builds confidence and a positive belief system. That is crucial for children.

The GAA is far more than a sport. It is the lifeline of a community. Children need to feel like they belong to their community and feel that their community values them. The GAA impacted my childhood in such a positive way and now is giving my daughter such an important life experience.

I want to thank the GAA and all of those wonderful volunteers who give so much of their time and energy, so that children can belong to something bigger than themselves, their community.

What an important message. What an incredible organisation.