The main task to occupy Paul Cassin, manager of the Irish Paralympic seven-a-side football team, since arriving here in Athens has been to keep his players off their phones. Some are homesick — five of his squad are aged under 20 — but mostly the calls stem from boredom at waiting to begin competition. His advice to them is straightforward: a gentle reminder that they are here to do their talking on the pitch.
The Paralympics in Sydney were a resounding success for Ireland with nine medals: five golds, three silvers and a bronze. Nobody dares predict a repeat but perhaps more telling is that no forecasts of any sort are being made. The caution may stem from the recent Olympics when criticism followed a final position of joint 64th in the medals table. Cian O’Connor’s equestrian gold was the only Irish medal and the general view seemed to be that ¤7.8m of funding was too high a price for a lone success. Since 2000, the Paralympic squad have received ¤850,000 of funding, with ¤500,000 of that invested in the past year alone. Many of the sums were based on what was achieved in Sydney four years ago. If medals are as scarce here, the Paralympians are unlikely to face such a critical backlash, partly through apathy, partly through politeness, but in funding terms the consequences of failure are the same.
From the Irish Paralympic team there is no argument: they are prepared to take the bad with the good when it comes to being treated as equals.
Jim McBride, chef de mission of the Irish team, tries to ensure the athletes know it is a numbers game without that message figuring too much in their preparations. “We’re aware we’ve set ourselves a high standard in Sydney,” he says. “I think people maybe feel it was even an over-achievement and some in the team will feel pressure to try and match it. Certainly, it’s something we’d want them to aspire to without feeling burdened by it. You can ’t shield the athletes from every pressure.
“They have to be aware that results are required to maintain funding, but at the same time we’ll help them put it to the back of their minds when it comes to performing on the day. I think we’ve achieved that here so far because everyone looks fairly relaxed.”
A glance at the official Games biographies of the team reveals that the footballers have certainly been enjoying themselves. Listed among their nicknames is Hyperman (17-year-old Gary Messett, who carried the Irish flag at Friday night’s opening ceremony), Bone Crusher (Paul Dollard), Sick Note (Brendan O’Grady) and Lazy Arse (James Murrihy).
When the serious stuff starts today against Ukraine in Hellinko, Cassin is confident the approach will be right. All of the players have cerebral palsy, restricting their mobility on one side of their body to different extents, but their training is no different to that of their able-bodied counterparts, whom they often play, and beat, in and around the capital.
“All the matches we play in Ireland are against able-bodied teams and clubs because we get more out of that than we would facing disabled players. Most of the opposition are junior clubs from Dublin or work teams,” says Cassin. “It’s only friendlies and we can’t enter a league because of the insurance complications. The guys proved they can handle a big occasion, we played in front of around 42,000 at Lansdowne Road recently at half-time in the Republic’ s game with Romania. I just cut the squad into two so that everyone got a run and the guys got a huge standing ovation.”
The draw has pitched Cassin’s side into an ominous group. Ukraine are the reigning World and European Champions and were second only to Russia at the last Paralympics, meaning Ireland face a probable battle with Iran and Argentina for the second qualification place. “The size of the countries we’re playing and our own size have to be put in perspective, but we’ll give it a go and we’re aiming high,” adds Cassin. “The plan is to defy our world ranking and (win a) medal. We haven’t played Ukraine for five years and don’t know what to expect from them, but they don’t know about us either. I’ve kept it that way deliberately because I think surprising them may be our best option. The Ukranians have tried a couple of times in the past year to organise matches against us, but I’ve always turned them down.”
McBride’s rationale is that every Irish Paralympic athlete sets themselves an individual target, be it a personal best, a top 10 finish or a medal. Those most likely to secure the latter are John Twomey in the sailing (sonar); John Fulham as double European athletics champion in the T53 class; Tom Leahy, who after gold in the discus in Sydney will now attempt the shot putt in the F32 class; David Malone, who will aim to retain his Paralympic swimming title in the 100m backstroke S8 category; and Gay Shelly, another gold medal-winner four years ago in the mixed individual Boccia BC1 category.
If all five produce, that Sydney benchmark would be reached, but McBride knows that showing his hand is too much of a gamble. “We’re not setting any specific targets, quiet optimism is the best way of summing it up,” he says.
The chosen symbol for the Paralympics opening ceremony of a giant tree in the centre of the Olympic Stadium on Friday evening was a fitting one. Getting to the root of what these Paralympics are all about promises to be the Greeks’ biggest challenge in the days ahead.
“The public really got into it in Australia which, like Ireland, is a real sports-orientated nation,” says McBride. “The main problem will be educating the Greeks about what they can see, but hopefully they will be curious enough to watch and learn. I don’t think we’re going to have the same kind of atmosphere within the stadiums here as Sydney: the main hope is that we don’t have empty stadiums.”
