Lawrence Healy on the sideline. Photograph: John Sheridan
MANAGEMENT and playing both have similar pressures but they also bring the same levels of enjoyment, former Clare defender Lawrence Healy has discovered.
Healy who had a nine year inter-county career with the Clare seniors is joint manager of the Ennistymon Community School bidding to lift the Dr. Eamonn O Sullivan Cup this Saturday in St Jarlath’s Park, Tuam.
On how management differs to playing, Lawrence stated, “This management campaign is the first time I’ve really been a manager kind of in a high stakes environment, I’m really enjoying it, it comes with similar pressure to being a player and similar enjoyment when you’re winning, I’m really enjoying it”.
A maths and physics teacher, Lala is now five years teaching in his native Ennistymon, he had been part of the staff at Ennistymon CBS for three years before the amalgamation to become Ennistymon Community School.
Prior to this he was a teacher in Meath at St Peter’s College in Dunboyne. There is a lot more satisfaction to be involved with football teams in Ennistymon where he knows it will benefit his own club. “It’s a lot easier when you know our club will benefit from schools football, that’s definitely a huge factor, I’d know a lot of their parents so you have tht closer connection”.
Back in his school days at Ennistymon CBS, he also won a Munster U16½ C title. “There was no All-Ireland series so it is great it exists now. We’re in the new school now but actually, all the lads on the panel had been in the CBS. I think in the years to come we will get more players that would have gone to the Vocational School”. He continued, “I guess we’ve all we’ve always been in C really, we went up one year to B and I think next year we will be in B and it would be nice to stay there”.
In 2024, he was part of the Ennistymon senior panel but lined out with the club’s intermediate team in what his twenty sixth year playing adult football. The seniors now managed by Declan Downes play their first Cusack Cup game this weekend but Healy has yet to link up with them in 2025.
Among his teammates last season was Conor Rynne who is joint captain of Ennistymon Community School. The forty three year old noted that Conor is the first teammate he has coached within the school. “Conor would be the first. I would have been involved in U16½ teams here in Ennistymon, this year and last year is the first time I’ve coached the senior team.
“It would be funny if I go back in a few weeks (to be teammates again and maybe receive a shoulder from Rynne), Conor is a very mature lad, a lot of the lads are and we’ve a lot of great leaders, I know they’re students but talking to them it is like talking to adult and they are adults to be fair, there’s a lot of good characters, they are very level headed, nobody is getting ahead of themselves which is important”.
His involvement on the coaching side of things with his native club is likely to increase when he does hang up the boots, Lala said. “Last year, I was helping out a bit with the U11s but I find it hard when I’m still playing to give the commitment to coach and then I did a lot with the school last year so with the school, U11s and playing it is still a lot and it was enough for me for now, but maybe when I when I stopped playing I can see myself getting involved more with coaching in Ennistymon”.
On Ennistymon Community School’s run to the All-Ireland final, the maths and physics teacher observed, “This campaign has just kind of snowballed really. We never really set out to start the year with any ambition of winning a Munster and definitely not an All-Ireland. We lost to Spanish Point in the Clare final, we were very disappointed that day, it was a turning point for us, since then we’ve just gone on a bit of a run and we’re improving every game, we’re just focused on the next game, lads are staying calm and it’s been great”.
They are becoming a stronger team in each outing, Lala felt. “Last year we won Clare so we were at quite a high standard, this year we’ve gone to a new level, the more games you play the better you get and players are getting more confident, we’re playing better as a team. The standard of the semi-final I thought was the highest of the year, they had a few Armagh minors that played in an All-Ireland final last year so to beat them was no mean feat, we were delighted”.
Having representatives from a multitude of clubs is a big help to their cause, he maintained. “When I was in school we always had one or two from Kilmurry Ibrickane, Miltown Malbay and maybe one from Breckan’s, we have all of that this year which is great and maybe a couple extra, we’ve one player from Lissycasey and Doora/Barefield so we have a great spread here, it is good for the dynamic of the group”.
Healy is no stranger to the big day himself and Tuam offers the opportunity for him to collect a big stamp in the early days of his coaching career.
