Gavin White eager to assist next generation

Gavin White will never forget his roots.

With Dr Crokes White learned about Gaelic Football. The skills required, a craving to constantly improve.

So, to be preparing for Sunday's All-Ireland SFC Final against Donegal as Kerry captain matters deeply. "Look, I'm very lucky to play with the Crokes and obviously this year I'm very fortunate that they've nominated me as captain as well," White explains.

"I'm incredibly indebted to that club. I suppose it's just the structure of the club, the people that are involved, the academy there on Saturday mornings."

That is where the journey started. "I remember when I was younger, going up on Saturday mornings and all the coaches were there," White recalls.

"I don't remember much of football from my childhood, but bits and pieces come back to you. I remember on a Saturday morning, Pat O'Shea was up there teaching me the block-down. We're very lucky to have some incredible coaches up there. In my own career with Crokes, obviously Pat has put in a serious shift.

"You've Edmund O'Sullivan still knocking around the place, Brian McMahon, Vincent Casey, loads of people that devote their time to the club and devote their time to improving the underage structure, I suppose. It's a credit to the history of the club, it's a credit to the culture of the club and it's continually building, which is great to see."

O'Shea's coaching and ability to assist players endures. The block down lingers in White's memory. "If we went down to the main pitch now I could tell you exactly where it was," he says.

"It's just one of those memories that sticks with you. He was just teaching me the block-down and obviously there were lots of other bits and pieces as well.

"It's just a funny story when you see then what has happened, I suppose 10, 15, 20 years after that, how involved he's been. Obviously, the 2017 All-Ireland win and the County Championship last year, it's just a credit to him and a credit to his family."

When Crokes lost an absorbing AIB All-Ireland Club Semi-Final against Errigal Ciarán, White took a little break from football. "I suppose I have to give serious thanks to Jack," White says.

"He probably saw that after a long campaign like that, it can be difficult to ramp yourself up again. Truthfully, as far as I remember, I took two weeks off. Myself and Tara went away to Paris for a trip.

"I tried to switch off as much as I could, but the league was happening in the background so I was kind of still obviously intrigued with the new rules as well."

Still, it was important to rest the body and mind. "I took two weeks completely off it," White adds. "No gym, no pitch, nothing. Then, I gradually started working my way back.

"I came back for the Armagh game, I think, which was around the middle of March. I got a couple of weeks of just building myself back up.

"We've an absolutely incredible medical team that kind of saw that I needed a couple of weeks just to build myself up. I was eager to get back earlier than that, but I suppose with my history and record of injuries and stuff, the medical team saw that and gave me an opportunity to build myself up. Thankfully, I've been injury-free since."

Recently, O'Connor has spoken about the fact that the teachers in Kerry's panel are helping school teams. The next generation are benefiting. "It's different ages you're looking at," remarks White, who works in St Brendan's, Killarney.

"Both myself and David are inside the Sem and we do a bit of coaching ourselves. It's a different angle that you're looking at and different age groups obviously. It's very enjoyable.

"I suppose I was with the senior team there with the Hogan Cup in 2022 and that year I was injured for a good chunk of it, so that allowed me to put a bit more time into the Sem."

Coaching and managing interests White. "It's definitely something I'd like to do more of in the future whenever I hang my boots up," he adds.

"Obviously, this year I was with the Frewen Cup team, which was very enjoyable. A lot of those players would have played with the Kerry minors this year.

"To see them improve as the year went on was unbelievable. I suppose at that age, any young player is going to soak up any bit of advice that they get.

"I would have seen that right from September up until we finished up with them. Obviously, then a good chunk of them went on to play with the Kerry minors."

A central figure in Kerry's present, White is also doing his bit for the future.