It was a big change for sure. Living in the country in Annaghdown, there wasn’t as much to do back then so I immediately jumped into all and any sports around.

I think it was about three or four days after we landed here my dad sent me up to football training, so I was always involved in sport and the GAA.

Through my dad I also had lots of interest in American sports, including baseball, which eventually led me to softball and then Rounders.

The first I heard of it was from a group of lads in the Galway softball team saying they were setting up a team and asking if I was interested in playing.

Then I heard Joe got a bit offended when then GAA President Larry McCarthy, who was based in New York, said they had similar sports in America like baseball and softball and referred to softball as the girls’ version of baseball.

The funny thing was that softball in Ireland had loads of men playing and around 50 mixed teams at the time.

The next thing I hear is that we’re going to win an All-Ireland in Rounders just to sicken them.

It was raw for sure.

Every play we’d stop and try to figure out if we had the right rules, figuring out what the best play was compared to softball, but we still had a good understanding of the game and plenty of crossover talent.

Although I will say the condition of the carpets has definitely gotten better.

Ah, I think I did.

Myself and Cathal would spend hours at night watching old Rounders matches and listening to the stalwarts talk about Rounders on the podcasts they did during Covid on YouTube.

We immersed ourselves in the game and everything about it. We studied other players and teams and thought to ourselves, “We can play with these.”

Now, it took a few good beatings to realise we needed to understand the game a bit more and be more tactical about things and not just go out trying to hit home runs every game.

It’s definitely a fond memory because it was our first taste of the sport and I’ll always remember it.

But I’d have to say going through a whole summer of championship and coming out the other side with an All-Ireland medal is much sweeter.

Definitely losing.

Especially by the smallest of margins.

I’ll never forget watching the winners, who we’d built up a fierce rivalry with at the time, collecting their medals.

I took it all in and said to myself, “I hate this feeling. I don’t want to experience this again.”

We did lose another All-Ireland final after that, but I think the first one really hit home and drove us on the following year.

I think we opened the next season by scoring 45 runs in the first inning of the first game, so it wasn’t hard for us to get back on track.

I think the biggest change in the club, apart from the sheer numbers, is just how much of a community it is now.

Whether you’re a sub fighting for your place on the junior team or a starter on the senior team, we all have great craic together, cheer each other on and are always up for a few pints after a championship match.

It’s great to be involved with so many different people.

Going from a small group of just lads to five teams of men and women is a big change and we embrace it.

I never thought the club wouldn’t survive or progress, but it was definitely tough when we were in Intermediate Men’s for longer than we thought.

Having won Junior Day and gone straight into a league against big teams, we still thought we’d go up to Senior.

When we lost the final to Glaveys and were well beaten, then didn’t make it back for another two years, it was definitely tough.

You start wondering, are we just not destined to get to Senior or are we going to have to wait a long time?

Consistency.

In all parts.

Players available for selection. Players playing in the same positions. Our overall gameplay.

We definitely have more experience now and understand how to play the game better.

It helps that we have more bowlers too.

The competition.

Coming from a more social sport like softball into Rounders, it’s just that bit more competitive.

While I play basketball when I’m not playing Rounders, they’re both competitive without having to sacrifice your whole life like can happen at the highest level in some sports.

Not to mention the social side of the club.

Many of my teammates were at my wedding last year.

I love bowling. Not going to sugar-coat it.

I always had a fascination with pitching in baseball and how you can control and manipulate what the opposing batter does.

While I miss it at times, I also love playing the outfield.

I feel more at home there now and it makes more sense for the team to play there.

There’s a few that come to mind but if I had to pick one former player, I’d choose Richard Jeffrey who played in the first Junior Day with us.

He had everything a Rounders player needs. Fast, could catch a cold in a desert, could hit the ball and even tried his hand at bowling too.

As for a player from another club, I don’t know as many names in the Senior division as I probably should, but out of the few I do know I’m looking forward to playing against Daryl Dolan from Erne Eagles, so I’d have to say him.

There are loads of similarities, but a few big differences stand out.

1. The speed of the ball, whether that’s the pitches or how fast it comes off the bat.
2. Gloves in softball versus no gloves in Rounders.
3. When you can run and when you can’t run. The two sports have different rules around that and it can catch people out if they play both.

Yeah, for sure.

I think there’s definitely scope for something like that in Rounders.

Not everyone will want to do it, but for people who just want to play for a bit of fun, a social blitz day would be a great idea.

Group teams closer together geographically.

I know it’s difficult because there aren’t as many teams in each grade, but there is a lot of travel involved in Rounders.

Even neutral venues can end up being a long journey for both teams.

It’s all about the team, so definitely winning the Intermediate Men’s All-Ireland.

The men’s team was the first team in the club and seeing us reach Senior level was a huge step.

It’s been amazing.

That’s what’s great about playing on mixed teams — you get to share the field together.

Playing in an All-Ireland quarter-final as her first match with the club and seeing her step up was brilliant.

I didn’t even care about my own performance that day. As long as she played well, I was happy.

It’s brilliant being able to train together and teaching her how to bowl as well.

We had so many Rounders people at our wedding that they filled two whole tables and even got mentioned in some of the speeches.

The club means a lot to both of us.

Look, it’s not a good stag if the lads aren’t trying to get you as drunk as possible.

It doesn’t help that I missed the night of it, but I made up for it.

Joe started calling me Ronaldo out of nowhere and I still don’t know exactly where it came from.

But if I’m Ronaldo, then Cathal is Messi.

Oh, basketball for sure.

It’s a much bigger club that I help run with the Vikings, starting at five and six-year-olds all the way up to people in their fifties and everything in between.

There is a lot more work involved simply because it’s a bigger sport with more games and more organisation.

Hopefully they’ll remember me with a few more All-Irelands and maybe an All-Star or two.

But I hope to be the first person in the club to win a Senior All-Ireland as both a player and a coach.

No pressure Joe, but you might need to sub in for a Senior game yet to secure that title.