TWO MONTHS ON from his retirement from inter-county hurling, Aidan Harte is still experiencing a championship-like buzz ahead of Saturday’s Dr Harty Cup final.
A holder of All-Ireland titles at senior (2017), U21 (2007) and minor (2005), Gort’s Harte is part of the management putting the finishing touches on St Joseph’s Tulla’s final preparations for their Harty Cup showdown with Ard Scoil Rís.
Nothing can match the feeling of being between the white lines in the heat of the battle but management is not a bad consolation. “I even text Tomás (Kelly fellow selector) the night before the semi-final saying it’s great you get all the feels of championship but you can eat as much chocolate and pizza as you want,” he quipped.
“You do get the buzz, it’s probably easier to play because you’re in control of what is happening. You’re still learning and trying not to micro manage the lads, they are well able, they’ve seen a lot of games, they’ve made their own mistakes in their careers and know how to rectify them, we try to advise as best we can. If a few things go against us you can’t just stand by and let it happen, you have to stick your neck in, it’s all part of management and the game,” he said of his growing diplomacy skills with college referees.
Since August 2018, Aidan has been teaching history and geography at St Joseph’s Tulla following stints in Edenderry and Ballinasloe. “I didn’t realise when I came in how full on the lads are hurling-wise, we’ve done great work over the last few years, we’re out every evening with first years, U15s, U16 ½ and seniors, it comes with the territory, it’s a great way to bond with the lads outside of the classroom”.
First impressions of the school were immediately positive, he recounted. “I was delighted anyway with the drive first of all, I was doing an awful lot of motorway mileage going from Edenderry, I was living in Athlone at the time, it was the height of the inter-county career within those few years, it was great to come here, it’s not much different to South Galway people, nice and laid back, time runs at quarter-past the hour”.
He is quick to praise the efforts of Terence Fahy and Tomás Kelly for their ongoing work with the panel plus the input of Darragh McMahon and Kevin Harrington with other teams in the schools. “We have who we have in the school, we don’t go looking to other places to try bring lads in, it’s amazing the work done by the two lads in particular, the drive they have for every team regardless of the ability, it’s always about trying to make lads better and working with the product you have, you can see that definitely in our lads in particular this year in the Harty Cup, they never know when they are bet, their last fifteen always seems to be the strongest, that has been instilled by the two lads in particular who have had them since first year”.
This approach of not recruiting panels has strengthened the honest, hard-working attributes on display in all of their outings. “They are all from neighbouring clubs, they know each other so well, we’ve instilled it but they’ve done it in previous campaigns, they did it in a first year final, a U15B final they lost in extra time to Doon, they did it against a Cork team at U16 ½ and it’s unbelievable, you can’t buy that. In particular the time of year. If you were to play a lot of the teams in May or June time, maybe the results could be completely different, you can do tactics but in winter hurling when it comes down to it, it is all about the nitty gritty and trying to grind out games, our lads have done that for us so far”.
In 2011 and 2014, he won Galway SHC medals with Gort, he confirmed that no Tulla flags are flying in the South Galway town as of yet. “There would be a running joke at home, my own nickname is Harty, we’d be known down through the years with county championships and Galway success to have a few ‘Harty parties’ and to see it on the corridors here in the school it’s giving the lads at home a great laugh”.
One moment stands out for the defender when asked for a turning point in Tulla’s campaign. “Seanie Withycombe’s free against St Colman’s Fermoy to level the game at the very end would have to be one, it was a horrendous day down there, probably the worst day we’ve played on all season but his free at the end ended up in the net, brought us to extra time, I think the lads switched on and said we are good enough, that was a big thing, it can be hard for young lads when they’re used to playing in a B competition in previous years and coming up with big-name schools that have tradition in the Harty Cup, when they start to gather belief it can be a great thing for a young lad. We’d be trying to keep their feet on the ground but why would you be trying to bring down young lads that have put themselves in such a high position, it’s trying to balance that act”.
Saturday’s opponents Ard Scoil Rís are red-hot favourites in the eyes of the three-time Leinster SHC winner. “They’ve the tradition, they are the stronger school with a bigger spread of clubs and a bigger pick of boys but we’re there, we’re in the final and it’s a great experience for our lads, this is a stepping stone in their educational and sporting careers, for a lot of them if they were ever waning off hurling or team sport why would they not want to be involved with this experience”.
However the underdog has been relished by the East Clare school throughout the competition. “The teams written off are doing so much work behind the scenes, ultimately then the name is starting to change and it has definitely changed for us this year. It’s great that we are now a Harty school, it’s massive for the profile of our school, for the first and second year students going to the games, there’s a lot of sixth class students from nearby schools going to the games so it’s a great experience for them and you could see that with the scenes on the field after matches”.
Called up to the Galway senior panel in 2007 by Ger Loughane, Harte looked back favourably on his time in marron and white. “I wouldn’t say what I was made to do but I always had a great interest in it, I was lucky to have great drive from home, it is was my time and it was great but as we say to the guys in the dressing room, they are in the best seats in the house, we’re just facilitating them, we’re enjoying the tour with them but what they’re doing now and will aspire to do over the next decade with their own clubs and county hopefully is a massive thing and it will be great for them”.
A small part of him would still love to be involved working under new manager, Henry Shefflin. “I think you’d be seventy years of age and still want to be out there but it is the process of getting yourself ready to be out there is difficult. It’s no secret that I’ve struggled in the last few years with injuries, there’s other things, the personal life moves on, being involved with the school and not having to think on those Saturdays I might have to be somewhere this evening or to catch a bus at 10am on a Sunday morning, that’s just life, it moves on for everyone, I’m not the only player to have retired from inter-county, people have faced it before, come summer time I’m sure it will be that bit more difficult, I had a good bit of time at it and I’d be happy enough that I gave it my all when I was at it, I’d be satisfied in that way and will hopefully get another year or two with the club to try drive that”.
He believes players within the St Joseph’s panel have potential to line out for Clare but for now their focus is firmly fixed on trying to win a first ever Harty Cup for the school which would result in one hell of a ‘Harty party’.
