“I Have Never Seen So Many Gardens And Flowerbeds Looking Pristine”

By his own admission, it has been a very strange few weeks for Clonlara’s John Conlon.

2020 was meant to be the year he would captain the Clare senior hurlers in the championship under the watch of new boss Brian Lohan, and while that honour was bestowed on him for the National League campaign, a number of factors conspired to ensure this year’s campaign came to a sudden and cruel finish.

On what would turn out to be the last collective training session for the squad before the Covid-19 measures came into effect, Conlon found himself living the nightmare of that dreaded cruciate ligament injury. It was a freak accident that would rule him out for the remainder of the campaign, but it still remains to be seen if there will actually be a campaign to miss.

It meant a spell of waiting for surgery lay in store, but a phone call from the team at the Santry Sports Clinic for an earlier appointment offered the chance to begin his recovery sooner than anticipated. It turned out to be a success, but it was not without a sleepless night in advance.

“I had the operation a few weeks ago and was lucky to get in. It was not meant to happen until the middle of April but thankfully on the Thursday before the lockdown came, I got a call from the Santry Sports Clinic to see would I be interested in getting it done so I owe a big thanks to Dr Ray Moran and his team for getting me in and getting me sorted. It could have been three to six months before the next operations took place so I was lucky to get in. My operation was set for the Saturday and the lockdown measures were announced on the Friday so it was a sleepless night ahead of the trip to Dublin fearing that it would not be able to go ahead. Thankfully it went ahead and it was the last set of operations before they were stopped so I was delighted to get it done. At least I have something now to occupy my mind a bit with the few hours during the day doing the rehab exercises and it is great to have that focus. I have that goal now of getting back on the field and that is my All-Ireland final at the moment” he noted.

Filling time in the day has become that bit easier for the 2018 All-Star as he works through his rehab programme. He is still missing that element of live sport though.

“I am a sports fanatic and I would watch anything that has a competitive element. Like everyone else, we are all craving that first sport which is going to happen whatever that might be. It can be difficult to occupy yourself at the moment. I have never seen so many lawns and flowerbeds looking as prim and proper as they are now and I suppose that is all people can do is find a way to fill that time” he laughed.

With the Covid-19 measures extended until May, it means more time at home as people continue to social distance in the battle to curb the spread of the virus. The primary school teacher admits it is still a scenario that people are trying to adjust to.

“It is strange for everyone really to be honest. Even something as simple as going to the shop is now an almost surreal experience because all you want to do is get in and out as quickly as possible and not really be around anyone. I went to the shop recently and met a fellow Clonlara clubman and we just nodded at each other from 20 feet away when usually we would have stopped up and had a good chat. It is just weird to be in these times at the moment. My girlfriend’s nieces and nephews are on a ‘Granny Ban’ at the moment and they only live down the road from her. They would usually live in each other’s pockets whereas at the moment they are only waving in the window at each other. One of them asked if they have could have a sneaky hug from Granny and that is just so sad to hear. All families are in the same boat at the moment, and it can be even more difficult for young children like that who just crave affection. It must be so strange for them as children and young adults at the moment” he said.

Conlon is a teacher at St Aidan’s primary school in Shannon, and outlined how they have been adapting to a rapidly changing educational environment.

“We were on the Easter holidays for the last few weeks but up to then we were using software called Aladdin Connect which we had running in the school. We were lucky in the sense that it was set up earlier in the year so people were already engaging with it. We were trying new things and just trying to evolve like most schools are. It is challenging times because if you have one or two children going to school from a household and then parents trying to work from home, not everyone will have the amount of laptops or tablets needed to meet that demand. The bright side of it is that it is making schools become a lot more technologically advanced and fast tracking that element of education. With every downside, there is always a silver lining and people are learning new things at the moment to keep them occupied which is a positive for the future. Long term for the younger classes, it will have to be more hands on based teaching though so that teachers can keep students more engaged. At that age you are trying to teach sounds and numbers so they need that bit more support within the classroom from all the various elements and you cannot replicate that sense of being nurtured if you are trying to do it through technology. There are some benefits for the older students who are getting ready for the secondary school setting and we have seen a lot of second level schools move more towards iPads rather than books so it would be more applicable to that age group” he observed.

With social distancing and a 2km travel radius for exercise still in place, it means young students are having to adapt to a new daily routine in their home environments. Conlon says while that can be challenging, there are some benefits to a new pace of life.

“They need that structure and they love to be able to engage with their teachers and their peers to help their development. A lot of that has been taken away from them now and it is difficult for parents to keep them occupied and in a routine. If they can keep that daily routine it would be very important long term for them. The other side of that is some people can take a bit of a step back too and have that bit more time for themselves. I have cousins who live on a farm and they felt that it was a great time for them at the moment because they were nearly doing too much. We were talking over the wall one day and he said every night of the week they were being brought off to various training sessions or activities. He is a farmer and a plumber and he said the children would never be down on the farm with him whereas now it is where they live. They are down there playing hurling or feeding the cows and they are loving it. He had a cow that calved at 2am one morning and his daughter went down with him which is something that would never ordinarily happen” he smiled.

With his return to action now likely to be early in 2021, Conlon’s full focus is on ensuring he will be ready for when that date rolls around. In the meantime, he is not buying into the concept that a delayed championship is something he should be glad of.

“I would be a rich man if I had a euro for every person that said it was an ideal time to get injured. I don’t think anyone ever wants to get injured and particularly this type of one because it is a long term severe one. It is just really frustrating because I am like any other hurling man. I want to be able to go up to the field and meet my friends whether it’s Clonlara or Clare. I really felt like I needed that at the moment because it is a difficult period trying to recover from such an injury and there is only so much a phone call can do because you like to have that engagement with lads. Hopefully the championship can still go ahead because I would love to see the likes of Tony Kelly or Colm Galvin running riot in Thurles and for me to be there roaring my head off to see the Clare jersey win. That is what I am hoping to see but it is just so uncertain at the moment which is disappointing so we will just have to wait and see what happens. There are so many things to consider before a decision can be made. It is very hard to see how we can have it back without a vaccine or without some guarantee that there is no danger to the safety of anyone’s family which is the big thing” he stated.

The prospect of playing games behind closed doors has also been explored in recent weeks by the GAA, but Conlon feels it is difficult to find the ideal solution with so many variables at play.

“We all want to play in full stadiums like a full Cusack Park. If that is not there, then it will be a very strange game to play in particularly if it is a game of the magnitude of championship both for club and county. If there is no one at the games, then it would be very hard to get any way riled up for it if the crowd are not there to spur you on. I am a player at the end of the day but it is not applicable to me going forward either. I would have no problem playing at the moment either because I live with my girlfriend and there are no issues there. I don’t live at home or don’t have grandparents living with me but if I wanted to go and visit my parents I would have to go into isolation first if I was able to play. There are just so many questions out there that I find it hard to come to a compromise and see how we can play games but do so in a safe manner” he concluded.