Steering Craughwell AC to success at top level

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon

There are people up and down the county who give themselves selflessly and generously towards the betterment of their community and one of those is Craughwell Athletics Club’s Michael Tobin.

Recognised as the main driving force behind Craughwell AC becoming the largest juvenile club in the country, Tobin is to be presented with a ‘Special Dedication’ award at the annual County Galway Sports Stars awards banquet at the Ardilaun Hotel on Saturday night, January 17.

These are certainly heady times for Craughwell sport, with Craughwell United’s Anthony Gilligan recently lauded by the Galway & District League for his contribution to local soccer while Craughwell GAA Club’s Michael Larkin, another who does Trojan work locally, is in the running to become the next Galway Hurling Committee Chairman.

In such a competitive sporting environment in the area, father-of six Tobin has flourished as an organiser, administrator and, indeed, as a coach. Since 2004, Tobin has coached athletes to over 55 national titles along with inspiring a string of others to silver and bronze medal successes.

The jewel in his crown is Irish national high jump champion Cathriona Farrell who, incredibly, has landed 25 of those national triumphs. In 2014, Farrell claimed titles at the Universities Indoor Track & Field – setting a new record – at both U-23 National Outdoor and Indoor Track & Field events and, crucially, at the National Senior Championships.

In all, he has coached Farrell since she was 12 years old, helping her to a string of National titles at juvenile level and a fourth place finish in the European Youth Olympics high jump. He has maintained this involvement into her senior career where she continues to set new records.

Yet, while Tobin considers Farrell’s achievements among his greatest coaching successes, he notes he equally delights in watching children develop from a young age into strong, confident athletes – not only at high jump or long jump but in the various running disciplines as well.

“The national school has been very successful in cross country running and it probably has the best record at Connacht Cross Country. I have been coaching there for the last 10 years, starting every September or October,” notes Tobin. “So, that would be an area I am pretty interested in. It is fun because it is the opposite of the high jump and the long jump.”

At the moment, Tobin has an especially talented team of teenage middle distance runners under his tutelage, including Conor Gillen, Nicholas Sheehan, Paul Joyce, Jamie Fallon, Neil Greaney, Damien O’Boyle, Matthew Moran, Keelan Ryan and John Cormican.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.