The Players Voice

Host Alan O’Mara gets inside the mind of Lee Keegan on this week’s episode. The Mayo legend reflects on his GAA journey to date and explains how becoming a father has widened his perspective in both sport and life.

Lee talks about the frustration of appearing in, but not winning any, of his 7 All-Ireland final appearances and chats about his plans for the 2023 season. He discusses the challenges of physical and mental burnout, changing the culture in Mayo GAA and how much he has benefited from engaging with the GPA and going back to college to develop himself as a leader and a person.

This podcast series is brought to you as part of BEO 360, a GPA programme that empowers inter-county players across 4 key areas - life skills, wellbeing, dual career and transitions. Please go to beo360.gaelicplayers.com to learn more.

Our host Alan O’Mara is a Performance and Wellbeing coach with sports and business leaders around the world. Learn more about his work at www.realtalks.ie

We are delighted to welcome Limerick’s Dan Morrissey onto the podcast this week.

Dan chats to our host, Alan O’Mara, about what it has been like to win four of the last five All-Ireland Hurling championships and shares his journey on and off the field.

[Text Wrapping Break]He also discusses the role of sports psychology, the importance of belief and confidence and how grateful he is to be part of this golden generation of Limerick hurlers.

The Players’ Voice is a podcast brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks.

The podcast series is brought to you as part of BEO 360, a GPA programme that empowers inter-county players across 4 key areas - life skills, wellbeing, dual career and transitions. Please go to beo360.gaelicplayers.com to learn more.

To find out more about Alan O’Mara’s work as a performance and wellbeing

consultant, please go to www.RealTalks.ie or find him on Twitter and Instagram at @aomthecat.

Thanks for listening!

This is the second part of a two part interview with Offaly legend Niall McNamee. Here he opens up about life in recovery from gambling addiction and how he has maintained his well-being since his last bet almost 11 years ago. Niall also discusses how he uses his own struggles to help other people in difficulty and the rise of problem gambling in sport and wider society.

In part one of this conversation, Niall reflected on his sporting career to date and his journey as a successful entrepreneur. You can find that episode by searching ‘The Players Voice’ on whatever podcast platform you prefer. Earlier in this series,Tyrone’s All Ireland winning midfielder Conn Kilpatrick shared his experience of gambling addiction and recovery, so please feel free to check that out also.

If you are a GPA member and worried about problem gambling, call 1800 98 92 85 or text ‘GPA’

to 50808 from the Republic of Ireland OR from Northern Ireland please call 0800 044 5059 or

text ‘GPA’ 85258.

If you aren’t a GPA member and need support, please check out gamblersanonymous.ie OR

problemgambling.ie

Finally - this podcast is brought to you as part of BEO 360, a GPA programme that empowers inter-county players across 4 key areas - life skills, wellbeing, dual career and transitions. Please go to beo360.gaelicplayers.com to learn more.

On the podcast this week is Niall McNamee, who has been one of the most dangerous and consistent forwards in Gaelic Football since making his Offaly debut in 2003.

In part one of this two-part interview, Niall reflects on his sporting career to date, why he came out of retirement after one season away from the inter-county game and whether he plans to keep playing at the top level in 2023.

Niall also shares his journey as an entrepreneur, which began by googling ‘how to make football socks’ after a conversation with a teammate. Since then his company Twelves has gone from strength to strength selling sportswear to people and teams around the world. They just recently launched a brand new football boot that Niall has been working on for two and a half years.

Part 2 of this interview will be released soon and will explore Niall’s journey as a recovering gambling addict, the role of gambling in sports and wider society and helpful tips and insights for those experiencing problem gambling. If you are listening to this, make sure to subscribe to The Players Voice, so you don’t miss the second part of our conversation.

This podcast is brought to you as part of BEO 360, a GPA programme that empowers inter-county players across 4 key areas - life skills, wellbeing, dual career and transitions. Please go to beo360.gaelicplayers.com to learn more.

Thanks for listening!

Ashling Thompson was a key figure on the Cork camogie team that won four All-Ireland’s in the last decade and she also lifted the O’Duffy Cup as captain in 2015. She explains why she is still so driven to return Cork back to the promised land after back to back All-Ireland final defeats and describes the pain she has been feeling since the final whistle went in this year’s championship decider.

As well as her many highs and lows on the field, Ashling has been open and honest in the past about mental health challenges and her struggles off the field. During this conversation, Ashling provides so much insight into her experience with depression, anxiety and panic attacks and explains how self-awareness and emotional intelligence have positively impacted her life in recent years.

This podcast is brought to you as part of BEO 360, a GPA programme that empowers inter-county players across 4 key areas - life skills, wellbeing, dual career and transitions. Please go to beo360.gaelicplayers.com to learn more.

Our host, Alan O’Mara, is joined this week by Tipperary’s Aishling Moloney. Since breaking on to the inter-county scene in 2017, Aishling has become one of the most feared forwards in gaelic football. She was a key player on the Tipperary ladies’ football team that won 2 Intermediate All-Ireland titles and was voted Player of the Year in 2019.

Unfortunately the 2022 season played out without Moloney on the field, as the Tipperary ace battled to overcome an ACL injury and the complications that followed post-surgery. Aishling is open and honest about how the last 13 months have challenged her, both mentally and physically, in ways she never imagined.

The sharpshooter shares some of the lessons she has learned on the long and winding road to recovery and why she is returning to gaelic games as both a better person and athlete. She also discusses heart troubles, how much things have improved for female GAA players in recent seasons and the challenges her inter-county peers are still facing.

The Players’ Voice is a podcast brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. BEO 360 is a GPA programme that empowers inter-county players across 4 key areas - life skills, wellbeing, dual career and transitions. Please go to beo360.gaelicplayers.com to learn more.

To listen to previous episodes with leading inter-county GAA players like Patrick Horgan and Vikki Wall, make sure to subscribe by searching 'The Players Voice' on whichever podcast platform you prefer. And while there, you would really be helping us out if you rated or reviewed the show.

To find out more about Alan O’Mara’s work as a performance and wellbeing consultant, go to www.RealTalks.ie.

Thanks for listening!

Our host Alan O’Mara is joined this week by Cork’s Patrick Horgan. 2022 was a year to remember for the 34-year-old, as he became the top scorer of all-time in the hurling championship and a dad for the first time.

Horgan explains why he is determined to continue playing for Cork next season. He also discusses how the game still finds new ways to challenge him after 15 campaigns at the elite level, and how he dealt with being dropped from the Cork starting team this summer.

He shares how working with a sports psychologist helped achieve better sport/life balance and how much he has enjoyed founding Pro-Hurling, Ireland’s first hurling e-academy. To find out more, go to www.ProHurling.ie

This podcast is brought to you as part of BEO 360, a GPA programme that empowers inter-county players across 4 key areas - life skills, wellbeing, dual career and transitions.

To find out more about our host Alan O’Mara and his work as a performance and wellbeing consultant, please go to www.RealTalks.ie.

Thanks for listening!

Conor McDonald’s rise to the top level of inter-county hurling was meteoric. In 2013, when most people his age were worried about the leaving cert, Conor was already living his dream having played for the Wexford minors, u21s and then the senior team in the space of a few short weeks. He was just 17 when he made his senior debut. He won three Leinster u21 titles in a row and helped Wexford win their first Leinster senior title for 15 years back in 2019.

Conor has known who he was as a hurler since a very young age but his journey for self-discovery as a person is ongoing. He talks about fear of failure, identity, asking for help, developing weaknesses, entrepreneurship and much more.

This podcast is brought to you as part of BEO 360, a GPA programme that empowers inter-county players across 4 key areas - life skills, wellbeing, dual career and transitions. Please go to beo360.gaelicplayers.com to learn more.

To find out more about Alan O’Mara’s work as a performance and wellbeing consultant, please go to www.RealTalks.ie

Vikki Wall speaks about how her life has changed since she became an All-Ireland champion and how adaptability, trust and vulnerability were at the heart of Meath’s success.

She also discusses the verbal abuse she has received over the years, her search for sport/life balance, and how much she is looking forward to becoming a professional athlete later this year in the Australian Football League.

The Players’ Voice is a podcast brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. Hosted by Alan O’Mara, this series features some of Ireland’s most inspiring athletes.

Please go to beo360.gaelicplayers.com to learn more about BEO 360, a GPA programme that empowers inter-county players across 4 key areas - life skills, wellbeing, dual career and transitions.

To find out more about Real Talks and their work as performance and wellbeing consultants, please go to www.RealTalks.ie.

Thanks for listening!

Our host Alan O’Mara is joined on the podcast this week by Lisa O’Rourke.

On May 19, O’Rourke captured the hearts of the nation when she picked up the gold medal in the light middleweight division at the World Boxing Championships in Turkey.

This was the 20 year old’s first ever appearance at the world championships but she is anything but an overnight success. Earlier this year she also won at the European u22 championships. We talk about life lessons learned from her climb through the boxing ranks, the benefit of having a sister, Aoife, who is an Olympic boxer, and why she still makes time to play inter-county football for Roscommon, and helped them win the Division 3 National League title this season.

This podcast is brought to you as part of BEO 360, a GPA programme that empowers inter-county players across 4 key areas - life skills, wellbeing, dual career and transitions. Please go to beo360.gaelicplayers.com to learn more.