Sportspeople around the world… ASSEMBLE!

The World Sports Team is not only achieving something worthwhile for those who are part of any sports organisation, it’s also breaking down sporting barriers.

Professional sport serves as the ultimate ambition for many young boys and girls. Amateur sport, by definition, is less intensive but carries with it an undeniable beauty and innocence that is lost to the professional game. And then there’s the ‘inbetweeners’ – semi-professional athletes demonstrating total commitment in the face of limited funding. The World Sports Team aims to unite all levels and standards of sport, creating a network of support that eliminates the unnecessary boundaries separating professional and amateur athletes. The goal is to unite the sport stars and the dreamers, the committed with the downright genius. It’s bigger than money; it’s sport as it should be.

Picture this. A Kilkenny hurler growing up Tullaroan spending evening after evening in the local GAA club. Countless afternoons spent re-living the heroics of the county team’s most recent performance at Croke Park. Oh, to get to play there! Progression is steady and commitment never wanes. Friends come and go, drink is discovered and the trappings of nightlife in Langtons uncovered. Women. The ‘good life’. But Croke Park awaits, the search for the Celtic Cross and the first Sunday in September. Minor title safely under the belt. Captain of the Under 21s. A few runs in the league in the Spring – not far off. The dream is becoming reality. Suddenly there’s a training ground accident. A mobile goalpost falls over landing on the back of the unsuspecting player’s head. Now running out in Croke Park is no longer a priority. Walking out of Beaumont Hospital is the new goal, or at least will be on awakening from a coma.

Three people spring to mind as I write. But after their accidents no organisation existed to break the fall. Three different sports people from different disciplines, and each had hugely promising careers. Each had spent their life to date perfecting their art before it was cruelly taken from them. Remuneration in the real world is based on loss of earnings. But to not be able to take part in the game, to be no longer able to create, to have to sit on the sidelines as people stare with genuine pity – that has to be the real killer for all and any sportsperson in any field.

This organisation aims to unite us all under one banner; it sends out a clear message – you will not be forgotten. Your efforts are not only worthwhile, but appreciated. If you should fall, the sporting community will pick you up. Not only is it a noble endeavour, it is a crucial crutch. To play on the edge, to train and live on the verge of possible genius, to create something, achieve something never done before, that is the dream of a sportsperson from any walk of life. Knowing there’s a backup frees you to train harder, play harder and create more. This is the cornerstone of modern sport. Support the World Sports Team. I do.