Greville faces huge challenges head on
THE stress levels are high anyway as manager of a sports team, but when you don’t know a couple of days before throw-in who might be available due to the possibility of being a close contact of someone with Covid-19, the pressure must be unbearable. Johnny Greville is taking it all in his stride. A man who last year combined managing Westmeath’s Intermediate Camogie and Under 20 hurling teams with a role as selector of the county’s Christy Ring Cup hurlers knows the value of the shared load. None of that would have been possible without the backing of the support staff in all three camps. Then there is home, and his wife Tracey. ‘There’s some evenings we pass each other, I’d be going out the door and she’d be going in. I’d nearly be leaving a picture of myself on the table!’ says Greville with a laugh. It is home that provides him with the sense of perspective about what constitutes a real challenge. Daughter Isabelle was born with a rare disorder and when she was two, the prognosis delivered was heartbreakingly finite. Johnny, a bricklayer by trade, closed his business 10 years ago to become her full-time carer. ‘They gave us a diagnosis at the time that she wasn’t to live past seven. She’s turning 12 at the end of next month, which is great. That alone makes it all worthwhile. ‘But the GAA and the camogie has been a huge outlet for me in the evenings. It has been a huge mental release, to tune out from the normal day-to-day.’ Last Sunday, Westmeath made their senior debuts and marked it by beating Limerick. It was significant that the players were not satisfied with the enormity of arriving at the gates of Camelot. They wanted to prove they were worthy of a spot at the Round Table. ‘I said it to the girls before the game, we weren’t going down to Bruff to mark a moment in history. We were going down to come away with a result.’ And they did. Kilkenny are up next in Callan this afternoon (2pm). It will be tough but they but they wouldn’t be anywhere else. Greville faces challenges head on. So does Isabelle. Nothing is impossible.