In The Spotlight: Joe McGinley

We catch up with Joe McGinley on his role as Lead Strength & Conditioning Coach with the Greencore Munster Academy.

A native of Donegal, Joe initially competed in athletics – as a relay sprinter – before his pace was utilised on the wing for the school rugby team (St Columba's College, Stranorlar) from where he went on to play for his local club – Letterkenny RFC.

While playing with Letterkenny, Joe took his first steps towards a career in coaching and completed a certificate in Sports Science at the Limavady College of Further Education before continuing his studies with a Sports Science degree at the University of Limerick.

Following a nine month work placement with Connacht Rugby in his third year at UL, Joe discovered his coaching niche in Strength & Conditioning and went on to complete the IRFU CCC (Certified Conditioning Course). In a bid to gain further experience, on his return to the UL campus the following September he volunteered his services to Munster Age Grade S&C Coach Fergal O’Callaghan where he helped out with the Regional Development Squad (RDS) – a group of 15/16 year old players based in Limerick – and the Munster U18 Schools.

Within a year, both Joe’s effort and potential was rewarded when he secured a part-time role as the RDS S&C Coach covering West Munster and within another year he found himself interviewing for the role of S&C Coach with the Greencore Munster Academy which he duly got.

Now in his fourth year with the Academy, the end of last season saw him take up the role of Lead Academy S&C Coach. Indicative of Joe’s tutoring abilities as a coach was his initial desire to become a national school teacher. Now, having chosen the gym over the classroom, the 27 year old takes us through his day to day duties as he nurtures the next generation of Munster Rugby players.

“Our department looks after the S&C requirements of Academy players – preparing them for the physical demands of professional rugby and managing the transition from Schools and Club rugby into the professional ranks. It’s making sure that workloads are optimised – not overcooked, not undercooked, but optimised.

“There’s a lot to juggle four our young players – rugby, college, moving out of home, getting into a new routine – so coaching players how to manage their lifestyle is as important as showing them how to do lifts in the gym. If they train in the gym for two hours, they then have 22 hours left in the day where they need to manage their food, college, family life and sleep, etc.”

With Academy player involvement in Age-Grade, Development, ‘A’ and even Senior sides, Joe’s role is not just confined to training days. In fact, matchday involvement will play an even bigger part of the Ulster-man’s job spec for the coming season.

“This year I have also taken on the role as S&C Coach with the Munster ‘A’ British & Irish Cup Squad. I’m really looking forward to the new experience of travelling with a team across the six group games. The camaraderie of matchday, there’s nothing like it. The Academy role is different in ways because it’s not a team – it’s a group of individuals trying to make it in rugby. Part of our role is to try and make that a team. It’s not peer pressure that will push players on, it’s peer support.”

Watching and nurturing a young player and seeing him develop and make it in professional rugby provides much scope for job satisfaction. Joe discusses his favourite moments along a journey that can be paved with both highs and lows.

“Seeing a player earn his first Munster cap is very rewarding. There’s no such thing as a courtesy cap and we see what a player has to go through from start to finish in achieving that. It’s an honour to be part of that process. You are working with such a minute number. I remember when I was working with the RDS squads – in the whole system there was a couple of thousand players and then to see that filter into four of five players before a couple of them push through to earn a professional contract and win their first cap gives us a massive sense of pride.

“Also, when we do reviews it’s great to hear guys saying that they are living the dream and enjoying it. Usually when guys come in at first they are stressed. When they are called into a senior session understandably it’s daunting. When you ask them ‘how are you getting on’ they say ‘it’s tough’. But then as they get more settled they turn around to you in a review and say ‘I’m loving it’. That gives us a great sense of relief and satisfaction. The first two or three years from sub-academy into academy guys can almost be afraid to enjoy it, but as time goes on the more they become able to compete at senior level. Their conditioning and skills are up there and they can enjoy what they do.”