By Cian O’Connell

Jason Leonard was in the Philippines when the 2023 Bon Secours Galway SFC Final took place.

Football has always occupied a central role in Leonard’s life, but being away from the Corofin camp for a spell was different. “Sometimes, when you take a year away, it helps you to put life into perspective, sometimes you get wound up over small things here,” Leonard says ahead of another decider against Maigh Cuilinn.

“I’ll never forget the day I was watching the county final last year. I was in the Philippines at the time, you’re walking the street, and not one person out there knows what is going on at home.

“Yet, at home it is the biggest thing in the world, and here we are again wrapped in a bubble. It is amazing, you realise how special the days are.”

When that match was unfolding, though, was Leonard comfortable being away from the action in Salthill? “One hundred per cent I was at peace,” Leonard responds.

“That was the predicament at the start of the year, you had to look at worst case scenario, which was the best case scenario here. What was I going to miss? I had made peace with that, there was still a part of me that when I went home, it was going to be everything, I’d love to get back to that stage again, to get back to a county final or whatever.

“It really did whet the appetite, to come back. I was definitely at peace, that was the decision I made. It was a good experience.”

Leonard returned from his travels in June. Football was back on the agenda before an unfortunate injury was suffered in the group stages of the Galway SFC. “We were back in June,” Leonard says. “It was good timing because it takes time. You can’t just rock in, it takes time to build up a bit of fitness and match fitness. I was only back in and I broke an eye socket.

“That was really difficult. I played the first game against Oughterard, then 10 minutes into the Claregalway game, I broke the eye socket, a clash of heads, innocuous enough.

“I had to give it six to eight weeks then, I was going to get a mask, but then you’re talking about breathing issues and vision problems. I just waited the time.”

Before arriving in Ireland, Leonard ran on beaches in South America. A world away from Tuam Stadium on Sunday, but Corofin was still in the mind. “You do it to tick over, but when I came home, I was behind the pack, regardless of what I did,” he says.

“Like that, you come home in time, to get yourself up to speed, you can’t just rock into our panel and expect to play. You have to put in the hard work like everybody else, I arrived behind the pack, I’ve been just tipping away in the gym ever since, tipping away with the fitness.”

Throughout the decades Corofin have proven adept at integrating young players. New footballers are always afforded chances and Leonard isn’t surprised that the panel is evolving. “I played in the first two games of the championship last year.,” he recalls.

“So, I had played a game or two with the likes of Paddy (Egan), Jack (McCabe), and Brian (Cogger), some of these. When I came home, and I watched every minute of them, but they are more established senior players now.

“They’ve been through it, they might have got a little taste outside of Galway last year. You just hope it will drive them on to new heights. They’re incredible, they’re always looking to learn.

“They’re doing the right things, they are in the gym, they’re asking questions about the diet. Do you know what? They’re just enjoying it. You see the craic in training, they’re enjoying it.”

Football and fun is part of the Corofin way. Undoubtedly, a winning culture has been created with Leonard highlighting manager Kevin Johnson’s contribution. “I genuinely think since Kevin came in that he has put a lot of trust and confidence in the young lads,” Leonard responds.

“I think we’ve used the platform of the league really well in the last few years. These boys have been dripped in. On the same side is the senior players know they need to be playing in the league because these boys are now capable of holding on to jerseys.

“So, Kev has just used the league to do it, and some of them have put their hand up to say I’ll take the jersey. It is brilliant, outside of Jack, Paddy, and Brian, we’ve Dylan Brady, he is going to be a fabulous footballer in the future, he already is. You’ve a lot more there, too. If they put their hand up, they deserve to keep the jersey. That is just the way it is.

“I don’t think there is any magic to it, simply it is about how hard are you going to work and how hard you want it? Those boys do want it, you see them with the lights on in Belclare, in the gym, they do want it, and they deserve it.”

There was a time when Leonard was an emerging player with Corofin. Sport, especially football has always mattered so much in the Leonard household. “It is all we know,” he chuckles.

“The sister, Tracey, played, dedicated her life to it, gave everything she had. Unfortunately, she didn’t get the All-Ireland medal at the end of it. In life, you don’t always get what you deserve. So, it is all we know, keeping mam and dad busy every weekend.

“It is left to me know because Tracey has wrapped up the boots, she has a young lad, Rian, at home, her life has changed drastically. It is all we knew, even the cousins over the road, too, it is all we knew. It keeps us out of trouble.”

Leonard works as a teacher in Belclare National School alongside Gary Sice, a totemic figure in the Corofin story. Unsurprisingly football dominates the conversations. The possibilities, the future, the joy it can bring. “He is out on the yard, looking at some game,” Leonard says.

“There is no way you can get football out of Sicey, that will never happen. The day Sicey isn’t talking about football, that is a day I’ll be worried about him.

“It is a huge part of him. The day he isn’t on about football or looking at something that happened in a game, the day he isn’t on about that pass being on the last day. The day he isn’t doing that, is the day something is up.

“He loves it, he enjoys it, he enjoys the camaraderie, he will get stuck in the craic. He is great with the young lads, he is brilliant with the young lads. He loves it.”

A gift is being passed through the generations. Standards have been set. More importantly, they are being maintained even as some of the warriors have retired. “Definitely,” Leonard replies.

“When we came in from minor, we won in 2012, you see the standards that are needed and required. Gary was one of them, Fitzy was one of them, Mike Farragher was one of them, slowly, you realise that is what we need to do.

“That is what success looks like. That is what is needed. Ultimately, I remember Ciarán McGrath used to always say, ‘you still have to turn up on the day’. They showed us what was required. They’re moving on, but you can see the younger lads are beginning to adapt that mindset and culture. I think that is the key, you see what success looks like, they show you the way, and it is up to you then.”

Having spent a small stint away, has Leonard’s perspective towards football altered? “I think you look at life and everything – I’m a teacher, and I’m always trying to echo this to the kids – sometimes we get caught up over small things in life,” Leonard says.

“I’m trying to show them things that I’ve seen, you nearly have to see them yourself.”

The reason why people play, to simply express themselves, counts for a lot. “When it comes to football, we might get bogged down over it or worked up over it at times, but I probably do look at it more to go out here, to enjoy it,” he adds.

“At the end of the day I know for a fact when that ball is thrown in at quarter past two, it will be the most important thing. I do have a better ability, probably, off the field to just breathe and not be as worked up over it.

“At the end of the day there is a lot bigger problems in the world than what is in between the lines. At the end of the day, we’re doing it for a bit of fun, you can’t ever lose that. So, probably a slightly different perspective.”

Corofin are glad to have Leonard again.