I was in Glasgow last week with the Donegal Schoolboys U12s team and even though it was essentially a full-on sports activity trip for the boys, with games and training sessions over a three day period, as I reflected on what I had learned over the few days, I realised the lessons learned could be applied in a much wider context.
The first of those lessons came when our boys played a game against the Celtic Academy team. While I was impressed by their superb touch, quick passing and brilliant movement, one of the first things the boys in the Donegal U12s squad noticed about their opponents in the Celtic Academy last week was that they all wore black boots.
I asked the Head of the Academy Willie McNabb about that afterwards and he said they wanted the boys to remain grounded and modest. I wasn’t recording him or anything so below is not a direct quote, more a paraphrase of what he told me in reply:
“Having the flashiest pair of boots won’t make them a better player – paying attention to their coaches, working hard at their game, perfecting their control, their passing, all the game skills – that will. We teach the players about the club’s history, of its humble beginnings and remind them they are just boys, they are not superstars. By asking everyone on the team to wear black boots it helps them realise that they are all still learning – not just as individuals – but as a squad. It helps keep them grounded and modest.”
Donegal 2003 Squad members pictured during a training session in Glasgow with Celtic coach Willie McNabb
Over the past few days I thought on how often people can get caught up in having all the ‘bells and whistles’ for their business while ignoring core values like customer service, appreciation, integrity, trust, passion, creativity etc.
More often than not, that is never a good thing and for many who find themselves doing that, sometimes the only way to get back on track is to apply their very own form of the black boots rule – a ‘back to basics’ approach.
More lessons came when Jim McGuinness called in to speak to the boys, answering their questions in a fascinating Q&A session that almost certainly would have run on for much longer had we not had a ferry to catch.
Pictured in Glasgow with Jim McGuinness.
What was immediately noticeable was how the former Donegal GAA boss made a connection with the boys. Before he answered any question he’d ask the boys for their name and where they were from. Although he was speaking to a room of almost 40 people, he’d make eye contact with and use the name of the boy who had asked the question when he replied.
Now Jim is no stranger to public speaking at this stage, he’s hosted more than his fair share of press gatherings too, but when it was evident that those boys who’d asked questions, felt the connection with his reply, there were lessons in there for networking and public speaking for sure. Those are skills that Jim McGuinness now has in abundance and the idea of honing skills came up more than once in his replies.
There are different skill sets in soccer and GAA, he told the boys when asked a question about comparing players. He went on to explain that while people can have more than one skill set, that there is a huge amount of effort needed to bring any of those particular skills to the really highest level.
I recalled a previous press night I had attended before the 2012 All-Ireland Final (and before he had joined Celtic) when Jim McGuinness spoke then about how he had also worked with people from other sports because he loved to work with people who ‘wanted to be the very best they could be.’
Then I wondered how much time any of us really put in to sharpening any of our own skills, never mind working hard enough to bring any of them to an elite level.
We had gone to play football, to train and have fun, but I came away with so much more than an analysis of an U12’s squad’s performances to ponder and to work on.
As Jim McGuinness himself would say: “Every day’s a school day…”
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