By Ciaran O’Donnell
Fifty years after first competing in athletics, Neil Martin is still in the thick of it all. Following his recent appointment as leader of the Irish athletics team for the World University Games in July, the Finn Valley AC man is busy finalising a squad for the championships which take place in Napoli.
This will be the Glenfin native’s third time to take charge of an Irish team at the World University Games – he was also at the helm in Korea in 2015 and in Taipei in 2017.
“The World Student Games are a sort of mini-Olympics,” says Neil, who is also the current Chair of High Performance with Athletics Ireland.
“There’s archery, handball, shooting, swimming, soccer and a whole range of sports. Every sport has a team leader and you have to apply for the position and get selected through Athletics Ireland.”
Being in charge of an Irish team is something Neil regards as a huge honour.
“You’re always representing your country. The World University Games is the third phase after the World Championships and European Championships. It brings together the best athletes in the 22 to 25 category.”
A selectors’ meeting at the end of the week will determine who will make the cut for the summer trip to Italy. Because of budget constraints, only five of the 12 athletes will be allowed to travel.
“At the selectors’ meeting, eight to ten of those will be selected and if some other sport doesn’t take their full compliment, more of our athletes will be included in the travelling party,” he explains.
Neil has managed Irish teams at every level apart from the ‘big three’ – the European Senior Track and Field (outdoor), the World Senior Track and Field Championships, and the Olympics. His first major appointment was in 1997 when he was named as manager of Ireland’s Europa Cup team.
“Whatever Irish athletes are selected this week, I have worked with them all at other levels. So I know them all.”
Becoming senior team manager is an ambition Neil has his sights set on. So does he see himself ticking the remaining ‘big three’ boxes?
“Yes. It’s definitely something I’d like to do,” he replies.
In relation to juvenile athletics in Ireland, Neil says it’s an area which is buzzing.
“At the national indoors recently, we had something like 16 championship best performances. So that’s really encouraging. Athletics Ireland has increased its membership over the last ten years from 20,000 to 60,000. At congress last year, it was decided to put an extra €3 on to the membership fee. This generated an extra €180,000 which has been reinvested in coaching at grassroots as well as high performance coaching.”
Neil travelled to Birmingham recently for the British Sportshall Finals in Birmingham and was impressed with the ability of the local athletes to hold their own at international level.
“Donegal finished third in the Under 15 girls which was tremendous. It’s worth remembering that Ireland has population of just 4.5 million. Greater Manchester has 6 million people and Birmingham has 12 million people. That’s where serious athletics starts – that’s where Jessica Ennis started out. It was a great international performance from the best of our county’s Under 15 girls.”
On the senior front, Neil says Ireland is in a good place.
“We have Thomas Barr, Mark English, Ciara Mageean and Fionnula McCormack and in those four we have world-class athletes,” he enthuses.
“I’d expect when they go to the World Championship in Doha that those four will perform at a final level. They’re top 12 definitely.”
While Neil is Glenfin born, he is, without question, Finn Valley bred.
His first toe-dip into athletics came around the fields of the parish when he competed in local sports as a teenager. Patsy McGonagle was teaching in Glenties at the time and eyed him in a Donegal schools’ senior cross country race over 5,000 metres in Raphoe in 1970.
“I finished third behind winner, John Bosco Doherty and runner-up, Tony Gilroy,” he recalls. He ran for a year with a Glenties team which included Brian Keeney.
“All the lads were around the same age. Neily Byrne from Kilcar and the Heekin brothers from Ardara were also part of that team that won Ulster titles.”
Finn Valley AC was formed in 1971 and Neil was among the first to sign along the dotted line.
“I was the oldest competing Finn Valley AC member the first day we competed. I was third in the Under 17 race in the Donegal League.”
Ahead of him in Donegal Town were two fellow Finn Valley team mates – Peter O’Connor from Castlefin and Noel Murray from Liscooley.
Neil won the Donegal Novice championship in 1972, the Ulster Novice in 1973 and the War Memorial in 1974.
His ability to recall with impeccable accuracy dates, times, runners and scorers down the years is most incredible.
“That day I won the War Memorial title, we had first, third, fifth, ninth, eleventh and fourteenth, yet we were beaten by Laragh from Cavan.”
He also won the Donegal senior in 1974 and was third three times in the Ulster senior behind Danny McDaid of Letterkenny AC and Laragh’s Pat Cassidy. Finn Valley then won the Ulster senior in 1977, 1978 and 1979, with Neil scoring on all three teams.
He eased back somewhat at the turn of the decade. By the mid-1980s, he was back in business and at full throttle again.
“Finn Valley had a great team at that time and won the Ulster senior in 1986 and I was 31 or 32. I didn’t make the 1987 team but made the next five teams in-a-row after that and me touching 40. It was probably the best time of my running career.”
Neil (11th) was part of the Finn Valley team that won the national intermediate crown 1990 which also included Kieran Carlin (third), Patsy Doherty (26th) and Anthony Murray (27th). It was the first time that a club had won back-to-back national intermediate championships.
He was a member of the first Finn Valley team to win a national team title when the blue and white vests were crowned Irish 15k road champions in 1991 – Pat Hegarty, John McGlinchey and Mark Connolly being the other scorers.
Neil suffered a knee injury which needed surgery in May, 1995. While he got back running, the setback, unfortunately, took its toll.
“I came back and ran a bit. But that was really the end,” he says.
When Patsy McGonagle was appointed team manager for the Irish athletics team for the Olympic Games in 1996 in Atlanta, he stepped back from his role of coaching an extremely successful senior women’s team.
“So I took over in 1997. Patsy had been in charge of the team in 1995 and 1996 and I took it for 1997, 1998 and 1999.”
That record-breaking Finn Valley women’s team was made up of highly driven and extremely talented athletes who took the discipline of cross country running to a whole new level. Between 1993 and 2000, they won eight successive national team titles – a feat unlikely to be equalled, let alone, surpassed. In 1996, the team finished sixth in the European Club Championships in Italy.
“It was a golden era,” Neil comments.
“That got me into coaching and administration.”
Neil has served as Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer of the Donegal Athletics Board. He is also the current Chairman of the Donegal Sports Star Committee.
Having retired in 2009 as a psychiatric nurse, Neil has devoted most his time, effort and energy to all things athletics.
“It’s given me the freedom to do what I enjoy doing. It’s athletics full-time. I was in the Finn Valley Centre earlier for three hours sorting things,” he says.
“You’re always on the go.”