MULTI-TALENTED sportsman Eugene Magee will take in two of the most important fixtures in his career in two separate codes on Sunday, but he will be powerless to influence the outcome of either of them.
Magee plays hurling for Ballela when his hockey commitments as a 215-cap Irish international permit and, in the space of a few short hours on Sunday, he hopes to be celebrating an unprecedented double success.
If Australia beat New Zealand in the Oceania Cup final (4am Irish time), Ireland will qualify for the Olympic Games for the first time in more than a century and Magee will be on the plane for Rio next year. Australia have already qualified for Brazil and, if they can defeat their Antipodean rivals, Ireland will be handed the extra place that will be created.
After watching an online feed of the game with his Ireland team-mates and getting a few hours sleep, Magee will head to Owenbeg to cheer on Ballela in the Ulster Club JHC final against Derry's Eoghan Rua (12.45pm).
These days, Magee's appearances for the county Down club are limited due to a busy hockey schedule with Banbridge and Ireland, but he managed to turn out for Ballela in this year's county final, scoring a point in their extra-time victory over Newry Shamrocks. His previous appearance for the club came eight years earlier when he scored four goals in helping Ballela lift the Down title with a win over Clonduff.
"I have been playing at the club since I was about four-years-old, but my sporting life all changed when I went to Banbridge Academy when I was 12," explained the 29-year-old.
"I quickly discovered that many of the hurling skills were easily transferable and I became quite good at hockey, which is the number one sport at the school. I soon got picked for Ulster and Irish representative sides and it was then that I found I simply hadn't enough time to continue with the hurling.
"But I managed to squeeze in a few games for South Down minors before hockey took over and it's just impossible to combine both, but the hurlers have always been very supportive of my hockey career. We had a two-week break from after the European Championship in London in August, so I was able to play for Ballela in the Down final along with my brother Eoghan, who also plays hockey for Bann and Ireland."
Apart from the fact both are stick and ball games and hand-eye coordination is important, the two sports have something else in common as they are strictly amateur.
"We actually have to pay a small annual levy [£450] to play for Ireland, but we get well looked after, especially when we are away playing abroad and the opportunity to travel was one of the reasons I opted to concentrate on hockey," Magee added.
"I played professionally in Germany and Belgium, which was a great experience and hockey there is a lot more community-focused than it is in Ireland - a bit like GAA in fact."
Magee desperately wants to add another stamp to his passport by booking that ticket to Rio as the Ireland squad nervously await Sunday morning's match.
"It worked out quite well actually as we are training in Belfast this weekend, so we will all be able to watch the match together," he added.
"If Australia win, as they should as the world-ranked number one team, we'll maybe have a quiet celebration in our hotel and then I will drive up to Owenbeg, when hopefully Ballela can do the business as well."
