CANAVAN AT 50
As the Tyrone legend hits the half century, he reflects on a testing year for the GAA and on sport’s role in a united Ireland
EVEN earth-born deities have to blow out birthday candles. Lucky Peter Canavan isn’t sensitive about his age. ‘God’ as he is reverentially known to the football faithful in Tyrone turned 50 earlier this month and, such is his profile both as gifted player and now insightful pundit with Sky Sports, there was no hiding the fact.
‘I could tell you that I was going to go to Vegas but I’d be telling a lie,’ he says with a laugh. ‘I was hoping for a quiet one but I didn’t get much of a chance when I was plastered all over The Irish News! Ah, it was a good day with family. Because the weather was good we were able to sit outside. Just like myself and befitting of my age, it was a very quiet and subdued affair.
‘My wife tells me that she had a wee trip planned. I don’t know whether to believe her or not – it was put to bed due to
Covid. I’ll take her word for it.’
VITAL ACTIVITY
ON Monday, the gates of clubs in the North were reopened and he describes that as its own milestone moment during this pandemic.
‘There’s an overwhelming sense of relief – leave adults aside – that the young people in the clubs and community can get outside and play the game they love. That’s refreshing. There’s definitely a great feeling, not just in our club but throughout. It’s like your club has won, it’s that type of feeling. There’s a feelgood factor about the club.
‘People want to get out and play football, as if you’d won a championship. So there’s that bit of giddiness about it.
‘From a parent’s point of view, it’s a relief that children are allowed out again, meeting up with their friends. It’s not even about competing or winning things, nothing like that, it’s just the very fact they’re back out playing the game they love.’
Father to two boys and two girls – 21-year-old Darragh is one of the county’s brightest young prospects – one of Gaelic football’s all-time greats explains why he was one of the passionate signatories of that letter to Stormont which contributed to the roadmap for a return to sport in the Six Counties.
‘At times I felt people were being critical of those looking to get football back earlier. In some cases, people were saying: “You’ve got to look at the bigger picture. Take Covid serious”.
‘Aidan O’Rourke (Armagh All-Ireland winner and sports performance manager at Queen’s University) had this idea of getting a letter up and running. I had no problem supporting it, as an advocate. That’s not to say we haven’t been touched here in Errigal by death. By Covid. At Christmas, the chairman’s sister, a young woman, 43 years of age, passed away because of Covid.
‘So we’re not being careless advocating a return to play – far from it. We’re fully aware of the situation. But we’re also aware that by having children out playing, returning to sport in a structured manner, we’re not endangering anybody or putting anybody at risk. That was proven last year.
‘There were mixed messages that the GAA couldn’t wait their turn, that they needed to be patient. When I was speaking, first and foremost it wasn’t as a GAA pundit – it was as a parent. The need for these young people to get back out, not just for their physical benefit but for the mental and social benefits that accrue taking part in sport, particularly Gaelic games.’
So much of the thinking has come around to that – albeit belatedly. Just read the summary to the health minister that informed the sporting roadmap in the Six Counties and see how important activity is to the bigger health picture.
He should know, speaking from a position of authority at Holy Trinity College in Cookstown, where he is a long-time teacher and director of sport. He can see it on the ground, the impact on students. Not just those who haven’t been able to kick a ball for the school for a year or missing out on the flagship
MacRory Cup competition. ‘Even go back pre-Covid. Any PE teacher who has been about for a while will tell you this: the incidence of obesity in youngsters coming in to secondary school has gradually been on the increase over this past 15, 20 years,’ Canavan continues.
‘Since I started 28 years ago, there has been a remarkable difference. You can attribute that to a number of reasons. The rise of technology and smartphones. In terms of dexterity and flexibility, it’s finger dexterity and flexibility they’re bringing. It’s too easy to sit at home, play the games, fall into the habit of eating fast food. You can have 1,000 friends now without leaving the front door – so-called friends.
‘A lot of people from a teaching and sporting perspective, anti-social media has had a serious detrimental effect on the general health and wellbeing.
‘You have all of that leading to obesity levels going up. So what does Covid do? Encourages people to stay at home, play games on their phone and so on. So we’re accentuating that process instead of decreasing that trend.
‘That’s why I would have felt it was so important to get them out and encourage them to be active. And it’s not just Gaelic games, I’m on about physical activity for their own good.’
‘WE’RE NOT CARELESS IN ADVOCATING A RETURN TO PLAY’
BREACHES WERE ‘INEVITABLE’
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the championship draws take place. In Tyrone, eyes and ears will be particularly attuned to the Ulster football draw on Tuesday’s Six One News on RTÉ. In general terms, he would like to have seen a back door but thinks the GAA have got the balance right in giving most clubs a free run from July. Feargal
PETER CANAVAN claims that Dublin and Monaghan weren’t the only inter-county senior football teams breaking collective training guidelines and public health guidance.
The Tyrone All-Ireland winning captain and football figurehead has his own significant say on the controversy as inter-county players officially resume training from tomorrow and the Championship draws go live in the coming days.
‘There would more than a bit of disappointment in that regard because I know Tyrone aren’t one of the teams that have been training,’ Canavan told Sportsmail.
‘I’m well aware there are teams that haven’t been caught, that have trained together. Most people would say there is a lot of hearsay but I know teams have been training together.
‘In Tyrone they haven’t been. In fact, they haven’t even had a proper opportunity… Fergal and Brian have just been in. They were able to meet before Christmas, before lockdown. At that stage they were having trials but a number of men didn’t have the chance to do trials. So they don’t even have a final panel selected. When they go back, that’s going to be the first job.
‘That leaves them at a disadvantage to begin with. Knowing then other counties have been training, it’s obviously very disappointing and very frustrating.’