Doing ballet gave past UCG football teams a leg up!

FORMER GAA President Dr. Mick Loftus has fond memories of the Sigerson Cup, the semi-finals and finals of which will be hosted by NUI Galway this weekend. And why wouldn’t he? With three medals won with UCG (NUIG) in his back pocket. Those ballet lessons really did pay off!

If ever an ‘old timer’ in the local club sits down and starts bemoaning the state of the game – be it Gaelic football or hurling or whatever – and launches into a tirade about the ‘good old days’ when ‘men were men’, just ask him were those the days when UCG won three Sigerson Cups on the back of the ballet lessons they took.

Even now, Loftus, who won Sigerson Cup medals in 1948, ’50 and ’54, chuckles at the thought of it, but insists their mentor Paddy Higgins was a man ahead of his times when it came to exploring new training methods to get the very best out of his teams.

That said, ballet? “That’s a fact,” smiles the affable Loftus, who sits relaxing in the Aula Maxima at NUI Galway after launching the Sigerson Cup weekend recently. “Paddy was into the ballet with us. He would have us here, in this very hall, in the Aula, doing ballet sessions. He had some lady who would come in and he said this is for your agility and balance. He also said it would keep the mind thinking. Paddy was very much into that.

“So, we would be up on our toes and all that sort of stuff. Really, though, if anyone saw us, they would say we should be in the ‘big house’. But, we used to have great fun at it. We also did the press-ups here and all that sort of training because we hadn’t any other facilities at that time.”

Certainly, it has stood to the Crossmolina native who will turn 83 later this year. Indeed, the day before this thoroughly enjoyable interview, Loftus had been out for a leisurely run. “I ran five miles yesterday,” says Loftus, who continues to compete in veteran events. 

“I went to the World Senior Games in Utah last October. There were 22 countries participating and there were 27 events, but you had to be over 50 to participate. I came home with two gold (3,000m and 200m) medals and a silver (1,500m) out of it. I competed in the 3,000m, 1,500m, 200m and the 100m.”

Then again, Loftus is no stranger to running and, again, he looks back to his days of Sigerson when he would leave his digs on Fr. Griffin Road on those cold winter evenings and, on the command of the management, walk, jog or run to the training session out at Fahy’s Field.

“Other times you were allowed bring the bike,” he says, “but it was all part of your training. I also remember the cold showers out there, although, then again, we were glad to get a shower! When you’d come in after training, you would be all muck, so you wouldn’t mind what sort of a shower it was.”

However, from that gruelling training regime – ballet aside! – the bonds of friendship between the players grew stronger and stronger. “You couldn’t believe the friendships and I don’t know why it is peculiar to Sigerson,” ponders Loftus.

“When I was involved – and I was involved with the Mayo teams in the ’50s and various other teams – there seemed to be a greater bond. Maybe it was because we were here in college and it was our first time out in the world. I was a relatively shy fellow but Sigerson broke down all the barriers straight away.”

He remembers all those who gave their time to prepare the students for the Sigerson Cup. The likes of Billy Kenny, Mick Raftery, Mick and Paddy Higgins and Professor Owen McKenna, who was “such an outstanding person”, are just a few he mentions.

“They were all great men and we had great times with them. Mick Higgins, you couldn’t believe what he gave. Paddy Higgins also gave us so much time, particularly when it came to our fitness. I tell you, we were like greyhounds. They talk about fitness and so on nowadays but I think we did the natural thing, with the running and weights and so on. It gave you great confidence.”

Indeed, during his six years as a medical student in the College, which has won 22 Sigerson Cups in the 101 years of the competition, Loftus claimed three. Although he has great memories of each of those wins, the first, understandably, will always be the most cherished.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.