At the age of 16, Colin Kenny was considered among the top sporting prospects in Ireland.
Capped by his country at under-18 level in rugby and a star underage gaelic footballer with Offaly, he was on the radar of AFL clubs and travelled to Australia to train under former Premiership winners with Sydney Paul Roos and Tadhg Kennelly.
His promising career was cut short though by the diagnosis of an irregular heartbeat which would force him to step away from competitive sport on health grounds at just 21. Prior to his retirement, Kenny was key to his club Ferbane landing junior and under-21 titles before his clubmates went on to seal a first Offaly senior title in 25-years this Septemeber.
This weekend the 22-year-old will be on the sideline as a coach with Naomh Ciaran for their All-Ireland Club Intermediate Ladies Football final against Belfast's Naomh Pól at Cavan's Breffni Park.
"Sometimes you go around feeling sorry for yourself that you didn't get to play, especially when the boys get to play on the big stage like county final day this year, that was so exciting," Kenny told Off The Ball's Will O'Callaghan.
"The only reason you want to play is to go out and show what you're about, that's the biggest thing you miss out on and you'd be kinda raging that you don't get to do that.
"I'm very lucky that I've got a brilliant family, I've got brilliant friends and involved with girls there that are winning that are a great bunch of people.
"Everybody has stuff they have to deal with in life so mine is only small thing really, I'm a happy go lucky kinda fella and I get excited about going to the trainings and the gym is a big thing for me. I'm very lucky with the people I'm surrounded by.
"When it happened, of course, our whole house was like 'what?', it's hard to deal with because at the time I was going well with the rugby and I was just back from Australia and things were looking really exciting from the sports side of it.
"It was a massive shock to have to change but it gives me a great chance to experience different things, I got to travel to cool festivals this summer, stupid stuff liking getting to go jiving in The Well (a local nightclub), stuff like that, I'd chance anything.
"When we were with Ireland a lad gave us a talk, he was Donncha O'Callaghan's brother (a psychologist), and he explained about being comfortable outside you're comfort zone and I've tried to take that on board.
"I'm using it as an advantage that I can do stuff that the lads can't, it's a massive commitment for them and I've got so much time to myself so I'm trying to just use that as an opportunity to be a good person".
Having been an AFL prospect and underage Irish rugby international, an irregular heartbeat forced Colin Kenny to stop playing at just 21. He's now loving coaching his sister and friends with @NaomhCiaranLGFA ahead of their All-Ireland @LadiesFootball Club final tomorrow pic.twitter.com/qyVnC8eeAE
— Will O'Callaghan (@willocallaghan) November 22, 2019
Kenny says he needs to keep a close eye on his heartbeat and he says coaching Naomh Ciaran has allowed him to stay involved with a game he loves:
"I have a monitor in my chest, a loop recorder, that monitors my heart rate the whole time. I can't really go above 80% of my max heart rate, so I try and manage it like that.
"I've been lucky. Any team that I've coached, minor teams, under-20 teams, they've been really good footballers and they all have a really good attitude and they already want to improve.
"That's exactly the type of player I'm dealing with every time I go on the field with Naomh Ciarán, and that makes life very easy.
"When I was playing I got to deal with some really, really good coaches. Not just my father, but Ger Heavin, Brian Flynn, Tony McTague and all these people.
"When I was in Australia I got to work with Tadhg Kennelly and Aisake O'hAilpin and some top coaches with the Irish rugby setup.
"Outside of that, in all the different sports I got to play, I got to learn a lot. So I try and take what I like the most from all those different coaches and different people and then try and bring it to the girls.
"It's cool for me to get the chance to work with this group of girls, you're dealing with people and it keeps me active and involved and I'm getting a chance to help some of my friends and Kate to improve, it's exciting and I love it.
"That's what gives me a buzz. Seeing them happy and seeing them enjoying their football and seeing them improve.
"Obviously it’s not as good as lighting it up on county final day, so it’s not filling the void of not playing, but it's still making me happy. That's what it's all about really".
