Armagh’s first dual club Allstar Oisin O’Hare calls on clubs to co-ordinate more to allow players of both codes to flourish

FEW people can boast an Allstar in one code, never mind two, and to receive one of each in the same year is rarer still.

In fact, in the history of Armagh GAA, it has never been done before, until this year, when Oisin O’Hare got on the stage to collect Allstars in both football and hurling at the Armagh Club Awards at the Canal Court in Newry.

However, despite the challenges that he has faced in his dual career so far, O’Hare said that he could never drop one code, and has urged young dual players to keep the fire going if they love both sports.

“From my own personal experience, my advice would be to stick to your own guns and if you love both sports, to stick at them,” said O’Hare.

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“Don’t let anybody cut you off either sport because it’s very doable to play both if you’re committed enough.”

There’d be no fear of that pressure from O’Hare as joint-manager for football team Carrickcruppen Paul Cunningham also managed Craobh Rua to a junior hurling provincial title in 2021, with Oisin, and his brother Tiarnan, featuring heavily that season.

The O’Hare brothers were part of the Carrickcruppen side that went all the way in the Intermediate County Football Championship this year and regained their senior status for next year, which was a huge goal for them.

“I think I was lucky to get [the Allstar] for football because a number of our players could be on that team,” said O’Hare.

However, the south Armagh side were knocked out in the quarter-final of the Ulster Intermediate championship against now finalists Ballinderry.

The half-back also featured for Craobh Rua in the hurling championship but they were unlucky to have come across eventual champions Middletown in the county semi-final who beat them 1-11 to 0-11.

However, the Armagh senior hurler’s hectic club schedule this season is seen as the norm by him and most of his Craobh Rua teammates for a lot of their sporting lives.

"Both me and a number of the boys in the team have been doing that [playing hurling and football] sort of our whole lives so we don’t really know any different," said O’Hare, who was quick to play down his individual accomplishment.

“The longer you’re going at that really, you sort of get used to that and it becomes normal that you’re training five of six nights of the week.

“That’s what you want to be doing at that point in the season, pressure is a privilege.”

“It’s all about trying to stay at the best and to try and have yourself at a level where you feel you are able to perform best in those games and alter your own sessions to make sure that you’re able to do that.”

This is the reality for many a dual player up and down the country, with O’Hare and his fellow dual players at Carrickcruppen often having to alter their training schedule in order to fit in the extra sessions for both codes.

The mixed emotions of success with ‘Cruppen at a county level and then the disappointment of losing out on a final with Craobh Rua have left the young defender with a lot to work on going into next season.

He and his Carrickcruppen teammates will be playing senior again and aiming to keep their status this time around after yo-yo-ing between divisions in 2021 and 2022.

As for competing with Croabh Rua, O’Hare has called for the football clubs surrounding Croabh Rua to co-ordinate to get the best out of a squad that includes a large number of dual players.

“In order to be competing with these experienced teams like Middletown and Keady, we sort of need all of the football clubs to be on the same hymn sheet to bring all of the players together to play hurling during the championship.

“They (the football clubs)have been very good in terms of helping to facilitate and the big thing would be that we would be able to get our players to play in the championship.

“This year the McVerry brothers and the Burns brothers were playing a football game the night before and that maybe hindered our preparation a small bit.”