Dylan settles into new routine in Leicester

ENNIS teenager Dylan Casey paid his first visit home last weekend from his new base in England, where he is now part of Leicester City FC. Before he returned to Ennis at the weekend, Dylan was inducted into the Leicester Academy in the presence of his parents.
“I found it different at the start but I am getting into the routine of it now,” the 16-year-old told The Clare Champion at the weekend. “I miss things here and I really miss the hurling but I want to be a footballer and that’s where my focus is now.”
Dylan was playing in the regionals when he was spotted by the Irish manager and this led to a call-up to the B team. “Since then they [Leicester] have been monitoring my progress. I was approached after the matches against Northern Ireland and Wales in Dublin and they asked me to play with them in the Umbro Cup and I have been going over since,” he said when explaining his tie-up with Leicester, where he is now based for the next two years.
“We have college for an hour each morning and this is followed by training from 10.30am to 12 noon. After lunch, we do a gym session or go back out and play football. We have a game every Saturday in what is a very competitive league. We have a half day on Friday ahead of our league game,” Dylan explained.
He stressed, “We are treated very well. I get six flights home a year and my parents get to come over three times. We stay with a host family that are involved with the club.”
Dylan’s father Ray, a former Avenue United player who is actively involved at schoolboys’ level with the club, believes Dylan “has sacrificed an awful lot to get to Leicester. He has been a member of all the development squads with Clare hurling since he was U-12. He has two years to make it and hopefully he will get a pro contract. He is really focussed on this.”
Ray was keen to point out, “A lot of people helped him along the way through the regionals and the Emerging Talent squads. At club level, John Roche deserves credit. He and I have had him since he was at U-10 level. Lawrence Ryan has helped a lot with the strength and conditioning programme in the last year. Before he went over to Leicester, he had a programme to follow, a very intense programme. He had three fitness tests to do, including sending over the results of the bleep tests. He had two fitness tests on the first day he went to Leicester, on July 8. He really enjoys it and he is focussed.”
Ray continued, “The family are proud of what he has achieved. It’s not easy for a 16-year-old away from home. People are very good to him at Leicester. We were over for his induction last Friday. Everything is monitored, they are very strict. They have regular assessment and they contact us to let us know everything. The GPS system is on them and they are monitored. He loved his hurling and he has sacrificed a lot for this. It’s not easy to give up something you love. It’s difficult going away from home but it’s only a little over an hour away now and we are in contact regularly. He is happy where he is, which is important.”
Dylan won a number of underage hurling titles with Éire Óg and also captured a Dean Ryan medal with St Flannan’s College. “My aim is to get a pro contract and we will get told near the end of our second year whether or not there will be a contract,” said Dylan, who also hopes to maintain his involvement with the Irish teams.
Dylan then headed off with his parents and sister to support Éire Óg in the U-16A hurling semi-final, in which the town side overcame Doora-Barefield. No doubt the former star will be keeping in touch with progress at Clarecastle on Sunday, when the final will take place.
“My target is to get a pro football contract and that’s my focus for the next two years,” he concluded before travelling to Clarecastle, having first visited Avenue United’s new home at Roslevan.