November 2015

In this edition of our 'My Club' feature, Mayo defender and Ireland International Rules vice-captain Lee Keegan tells us all about Westport GAA Club.

A large town, known as 'Cathair na Mart' in Irish, Westport has a population of over 5,000 people and is located on the west coast of the county, tucked away in a corner of Clew Bay.

Renowned for its natural beauty and as a tourist and commercial hub in a sparsely populated area, the town is a bustling, vibrant place all year round.

Located in the shadow of Croagh Patrick, Westport is not only a Mecca for tourists seeking to climb the 'Holy Mountain', to cycle the Greenway out to Achill or to explore beautiful Clew Bay, it also has a reputation for sporting excellence.

With Westport United Soccer Club and Westport RFC also offering major alternatives and stiff competition for players, Westport GAA Club has, at times, struggled to carve out a niche of its own in the town.

Despite losing its senior status last year, the club's fortunes are very much on the up following the development of an impressive new clubhouse and the achievements of a number of their underage sides.

Along with Kevin Keane, Lee Keegan is one of two Westport men currently on the Mayo senior football panel, while there were four players from the club on the county's minor panel in 2015, an indication of just how strong the club's underage sides have now become.

Although Westport have never won a Mayo SFC title - they have lost eight finals - they were the Intermediate champions in the county as recently as 2009 and have won four Mayo Senior Hurling titles over the years.

At the time of writing, the club has intermediate status in football and is one for four clubs that competes for the Mayo SHC title annually.

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**Q. Lee! Can you tell us a little bit about Westport and where the club draws its players from? **

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**A. **We're a well-known town for all the hens and stags that come into us but we're also a very proud parish. There are a lot of clubs outside the town such as Ballintubber and Kilmeena, but we're central to everything and we are lucky to be where we are with all the amenities in the town - a lovely greenway and fine facilities for soccer, Gaelic and rugby. We also have plenty of pubs!

It's a great town and a lot of out players come from the town itself, which is a key factor. However, we have struggled a lot in the last few years to compete with rugby and soccer, which are the town's predominant sports. It's hard for us to get a lot of lads to play at senior level, whereas at underage it's much easier to juggle different sports.

We are building in a slow process, but we have been very lucky of late with the success we have enjoyed at underage level. At senior, we are struggling a bit with key players emigrating or just leaving to work elsewhere. We have the good and the bad.

**Q. Given Westport's isolated location, has emigration been a major issue over the last few years? **

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**A: **We are lucky in that we have Allergen in the area and a lot of people work there. They are very good to people and employ huge numbers there. The big problem might be that if they ever left we'd be in trouble and lots might have to leave the area.

Our club have been hit a small bit, losing the likes of Damien Gibbons and James Gill and Diarmuid O'Connor to a Sligo team. We have been hit quite heavily but I would never use that excuse for a senior club that has so many people coming through the town. We are having a lot of success at the moment and it might be another three or four years before we see these guys coming through. It will hopefully be worth the wait.

**Q. What success has the club had at underage level and has it been in the top grades in Mayo? **

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**A: **All our teams from U12 to minor are playing in the top grades in Mayo and are winning county titles so it bodes well for the future. Unfortunately, I might be a bit old before we start to see the benefit of that but we'll see. I'm looking forward to these lads coming through and we are trying to blend them as well as possible and not to lose them to rugby and soccer.

Q: How did your own underage career with the club work out?

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**A. **We played in the top grade but we didn't win much to be honest. I actually started out in Kilmeena, a club further west, but we moved from the country to the town and I had no option but to play for Westport, which was where I was based in school. I think we won a West Minor county title when I was 16 but bar that we won nothing else. I played in an era when we didn't have the players or the quality...we could compete but we couldn't produce the goods when it counted.

That was disappointing for me but I was lucky to meet the lads I did. I was actually heavily involved in rugby when I was younger and I was lucky enough to play for Connacht so I had a spread of sports and I was always kept busy.

**Q. With soccer and rugby having such a strong presence in the town, where does Wesport GAA Club fit into the conversation? **

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**A. **Soccer is huge. In fact, my brother plays soccer for Westport and we couldn't get him playing Gaelic football, which was a huge decision for him. Soccer is probably the biggest sport in Westport at the moment and the club is well-known throughout the country for their success in the FAI Junior Cup, and they won the League again this year. They are a highly successful junior club. We could have had another few top players if some of them had stuck with Gaelic football, I'm disappointed to say, but they went down the right path for themselves, they've won lots of trophies and are local heroes in the town.

Then you have rugby, which is quite popular in the area and is a sport I used to play myself. They have a great club there and they are redeveloping it as well, building stands and things like that. They are highly competitive team.

Sport is a huge part of Westport culture and there are so many options for kids there at the moment. We have tennis, badminton, indoor soccer and astroturf pitches. There's loads going on in Westport - so much you'd nearly get a headache trying to choose the sport you want.

**Q. Given you have a pedigree in rugby and family connections in soccer, what made you decide to play Gaelic football with Westport? **

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**A. **People laugh at me because I was doing well at rugby, which is a professional sport you get paid to play. I think the love of Gaelic football was too much growing up - the people I met at underage and playing in the schools. I was lucky enough in that when I was in school we played with lads from all our local, rival clubs including Ballintubber and Kilmeena. They are some of my fondest memories and it was too big an opportunity to pass up when I was lucky enough to make the U21 grade with Mayo, which gave me the perspective I needed to pick the sport I wanted. I made the choice and thankfully I have done pretty well so far. I haven't reached the top just yet, but that was the reason - the love of the people who gave me the opportunities and chances at Westport GAA.

**Q. Browsing the club website, it's apparent that the club has undergone a major redevelopment recently - can you tell us about the new facilities? **

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**A. **It's long overdue. With so many sports in the town, funds are hard to get but luckily enough we got it and we now have a lovely new astro turf pitch for all the underage and senior players down there. The clubhouse redevelopment has been needed for a long time and it gives members a new perspective for the future. There's been great excitement around the club because of it since we got it. We're also looking to put in a handball wall and other things like that.

Westport is a growing club at the moment and hopefully we can grow a bit more because there is huge potential for us. The community spirit around the redevelopment of the clubhouse was absolutely huge. Even last week we had a mental health and wellbeing seminar so there is always something going on. That's why it's so great to get the clubhouse built because it showcases all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes. I was immensely proud to see it go up because it was something we needed for a long time and for underage guys to see the proud pictures on the wall, to be aware of our proud past looking into the future.

**Q. Yourself and Kevin Keane are involved with the Mayo senior team at the moment, but who are the other Westport men who have worn the county colours in the past? **

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**A. **The biggest legend I grew with and had the pleasure of playing with was James Gill. He was a great man to have around the club, a real social guy who would organise bits and pieces and a bit of a messer too. He was my main reasons for staying with Gaelic football because he was always whispering in my ear telling me I could do this and that. I looked up to him for and I was very proud to win an Intermediate county title with him in 2009. Unfortunately, injuries came against him in the latter stages of his career.

Kevin Keane, as you mentioned, is also a clubman and I am lucky to have him there as well. I see him more than my own girlfriend! It's great to have someone there beside you, going through this whole new era with Mayo over the last five years, and to have him around has been a brilliant boost. To have him as part of the club as well is important because he's a great character and he'd be very passionate about the club. The Keane family as a whole are a hugely influential family in the club.

James and Kevin are the two. I'm sure there are plenty of other club legends from other times, but I'll go with the present for now.

**Q. Are there many other Westport players on Mayo representative sides at underage level? **

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**A. **I think we had four Mayo minors this year - Oisín McLaughlin, Alan Kennedy, Colm Moran and our 'keeper Patrick O'Malley. That's the most we've had in years. The underage is strong and we are well represented on the minor team even though we didn't have the best of years. It's probably hard for them looking at the senior team at the moment, but in time they'll realise how hard it is to win county medals and to maintain senior status. These guys are developing at the moment and we're waiting for those four lads to come through. They're all pretty good at soccer too so we will be under pressure to keep them. I think they are happy with Gaelic and we have a good coach in this year, Damien Loftus, so he will be in constant contact with them to make sure they are involved as much as possible and to keep them interested.

**Q. What are your memories of winning the Intermediate county title with the club in 2009? **

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A. It was just my second season with the adult side. It's one of my proudest memories, even when you take senior inter-county football into account. I always come back to the day we played Tourmakeady, one of my proudest days in a Westport jersey. We hadn't won a major trophy in something like 30 years before that, but we had a great day, beating them by two points. I was lucky enough to be on the pitch with my brother, Philip, which was one of the last games we played together before he focused on soccer. It was a really proud day and an emotional one for many people, seeing us finally lifting a major trophy.

Unfortunately, we only lasted a few years at senior level but to have that memory for myself - of going around to our local pub with the trophy and there are so many photos of that day. We are very proud of that day because they are so hard won. We are intermediate again and it is a struggle, but we had a great year that year with Shane Conway and Martin Connolly in charge and a great group if players. It's a real shame, but we've lost seven or eight of those boys since. I'll always have that memory close to my heart and hopefully we'll win another one soon and get back to senior.

**Q. How has the club fared in the Intermediate grade since being relegated in 2014 and is there any prospect of a return to the senior ranks? **

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A. We went down last year, losing to Ballina. We got to the quarter-final of the Intermediate Championship this year, but it was a struggle to be honest and we were beaten by Bonniconlon in the group stages as well. We lost players and it's hard to get the commitment from players because Westport is quite a known town. We have a new bunch and a new management with Damien Loftus so it is going to take time. Damian is a St Vincent's man from Dublin so he's a hard man to communicate with! He's trying to get a panel together that he believes can compete at intermediate level, but I would always consider us a senior team because we were there for quite a few years but a lot of our lads wouldn't realise just how hard it was to win an Intermediate county in 2009 and maybe got a bit of a wake up call this year. We got beaten well by Belmullet in the quarter-finals so we have to replan and look at what we can do better to go better next year.

**Q. Is there much hurling played in the club? **

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**A. **Hurling is becoming very popular at underage level and camogie is strong too. We have a senior men's team, but there is only four senior teams in Mayo so it's quite hard for them to get games and competition. We have quite a good representation on the Mayo senior team and had four or five more on the county team again this year. Hurling is big, but football is the main sport, as is the case throughout most of Mayo. But the numbers for hurling at underage level on a Saturday morning are huge and it's great to see so many girls and boys playing so it's looking good for the future of hurling in Westport.

**Q. Who are the people operating behind the scenes in Westport GAA? **

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**A. **There are loads! Tim Kenny drives a lot, Charlie Lambert, who is over the Mayo Sports Partnership, puts in a huge amount of effort into what goes in behind the scenes and he never asks for thanks. Dave Blaine, our caretaker, has put his life on hold for Westport. Séamus Moran puts a lot into it as well. I could name hundreds but those are the people who spring to mind, the ones who drove the redevelopment. As a result the club is starting to look like a proper club again with the facilities to match. Our pitch, which gets over 110 games a year, is a credit to Dave Blaine, but that also shows the use it's getting. We have good people there - I'm afraid I might have left some people out! - and a lovely community in Westport. Time is on our side because we have a young squad and I am looking forward to the challenge.

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