Meet the Leitrim legend who has been putting his heart into trying to make Sligo a stronger county
Aidan Rooney has been a Connacht winner as a Leitrim player and a provincial winner as a Sligo Minor manager. He talks about his coaching ethos and on how he wants St Mary’s to improve in 2021
THINK of all the games he has played in and all those fixtures in which he has been the coach or manager. Aidan Rooney has wanted to win each and every one of them. He still wants to win as he heads into his third year in charge of St Mary’s Senior Gaelic footballers.
The Glencar native has endured his fair share of losses, too, but this drive defines him – he wants his teams to improve, to strive, to win.
It hasn’t always worked out as he has wished on the pitch, or from his management berth on the sideline, but Rooney isn’t for changing an outlook that makes him a proud Leitrim man and, since moving to Sligo town in 2004, an equally proud resident of the Yeats County.
Rooney, born in 1969, has sporting perspectives that frequently earns him likes – and dislikes – but he’s not for turning from a willingness for his teams to be better.
His fortitude stems from an upbringing where his dad, Frank ‘Francie’ Rooney, told him to believe he could be the best and from his mother, Dympna, who is from the famous Kearins family of St Patrick’s GAA Club in west Sligo. Rooney’s uncles on his mother’s side were famous Gaelic footballers – among them Sligo GAA icon Mickey Kearins, Sligo’s greatest ever player, and James Kearins, who managed the county’s Senior team in 2004. Mickey and James were part of the Sligo team that climbed a provincial summit in 1975.
Rooney has been busy this month – walking 50 miles as part of a Leitrim GAA fundraiser. In fact, he has exceeded the 50-mile target and has so far raised over €3,400. Leitrim GAA aim to generate €50,000 to assist the funding of their inter-county teams for 2021.
Clocking up miles in all sorts of weather has given him time to consider what St Mary’s could achieve in 2021, a year in which sport may unfortunately remain at the mercy of Covid19 restrictions.
Rooney, who notably won a Nestor Cup with Leitrim in 1994, is at the helm of St Mary’s – the Kent Park outfit with whom he was a Sligo Senior Football Championship runner-up as a player in 2004.
They came close to toppling Tourlestrane last year – losing to the holders and eventual five-in-a-row winners by a point at Markievizcz Park – and in 2019 they were also beaten semi-finalists, creating 31 scoring opportunities, including numerous
Feature
goal chances, in a two-point loss to Coolera-Strandhill.
St Mary’s are third in the Sligo Senior Football Championship’s all-time list – but six of their 11 titles came during the club’s golden era of the 1980s. Can the Ballydoogan outfit, one that fielded teams with players such as Barnes Murphy, Glenn Young, John Kent and Tommy Breheny, still be viewed as a ‘big’ club?
Rooney gives an honest assessment. “St Mary’s have won three Senior Championships in 20 years – 1996, 2001 and 2015. That wouldn’t bring ‘status’ in a lot of counties.”
“We need to winning more than that to be considered a big club. There is a perception out there that St Mary’s are a big, big club.”
“But to be a big club you have to be winning titles on regular basis – so Tourlestrane are a big club.”
“The whole club structure has to carry that aura.”
The seeds for future success appeared to be sown in the period 2011-2015 when the urban club dominated the Sligo Minor ‘A’ Football Championship, winning it on five consecutive occasions.
They also claimed three U-21 ‘A’ titles in five years (2015, 2016 and 2018).
ROONEY says that the biggest challenge for St Mary’s has been to keep these up and coming players involved.
Not just in terms of playing numbers but to ensure that those with the greatest potential from those title-winning campaigns have become consistent, reliable stars at Senior level.
“I’m trying to create an atmosphere of belonging – that lads want to keep playing for St Mary’s.”
“It is about trying to build on the work we’ve done for the last two years and also the work done at underage level in recent times – to keep these lads playing football.”
“That can only be achieved by improving year on year and by keeping lads involved in the club.” He continued: “We need to be giving a reason to players to stay playing with St Mary’s – that comes down to things like a club ethos and values.”
“You hope that the trade off is that lads get so immersed in what they are doing that they will do the best they can for the club.”
“This is a view shared by Peadar Niland, who was club chairman last year, and Niall Murray, who is coming in as chairman.”
“No team can afford to be without their better players. All club manag
“I have friends everywhere in sport because I value people. Players have to feel valued. A coach has to have empathy.”
ers will talk about the players that they don’t have available, but if you have as many playing as is possible then you give yourself a better chance