Reilly to give full backing to Bumbleance

Make no mistake about it, Kevin Reilly has been one of the finest players ever to wear the number three jersey for Meath and his premature retirement due to injury is a major blow to the prospects of returning to the top table of inter-county football in the short-term.
The only thing that sets Reilly apart from other such legendary full-backs such as Darren Fay, Mick Lyons, Paddy O’Brien and Jack Quinn is an All-Ireland medal and that is a regret the giant Navan O’Mahonys stalwart will now have to carry with him.
A few years ago one of those legendary full-backs casually admitted that he would gladly give up his All-Ireland medal if it meant he wasn’t in constant pain now, but Reilly believes that the pain he now endures after suffering chronic hip injury would be cushioned enormously by an All-Ireland medal in his back pocket.
That medal never came Reilly’s way, but it wasn’t through a lack of trying or commitment. All-Ireland SFC semi-finals in 2007 and 2009 and a Leinster SFC title in 2010 are the highlights of Reilly’s inter-county career, but that elusive piece of gold will haunt him long into retirement.
With his playing days for Meath now behind him and the likelihood of him ever featuring for Navan O’Mahonys again a fading dream Reilly has turned to other methods to maintain a level of fitness he has always strived for.
Cycling has provided Reilly with that outlet and he has signed up to do a charity cycle in aid of the Bumbleance Foundation from Navan to Galway on Saturday 11th June, one day before he could reasonably have expected to line out for Meath in their Leinster SFC opener against Louth - had injury not intervened.
The Bumbleance Foundation provides an ambulance service for children. Vehicles are kitted out with televisions, playstations and other age-appropriate gadgets to help make what can often be a horrendous journey a little more comfortable.
“A former player with Navan O’Mahonys, Darren Byrne, got in touch with the Bumbleance Foundation saying he wanted to do something for them. He in turn got in touch with my brother and he knew I wasn’t doing a whole lot so he asked me would I get involved and I jumped at the chance to get involved with such a worthy cause,” Reilly commented.
“I was aware of the service Bumbleance provide, but since having children myself I have become even more aware of the importance of such a service.
“Being a parent is a real eye-opener and, God forbid, if anything did happen you’d like to think that service would be available to you.
“The whole service is run by fundraising and relies heavily on the generosity of people to help out and keep it up and running.
“There is about 35 people doing the cycle so far, but some can still join up or people can donate on the Navan Bumbleance Charity Cycle Facebook page.”
The hip injury suffered by Reilly in the 2014 Leinster SFC final loss to Dublin restricted his involvement with both club and county in 2015 and on the advice of doctors and surgeons Reilly has had to quit the demands of the inter-county scene. However, he finds cycling to be the ideal substitute for all those hours of hard work put in with Meath.
“Training has been great since I got back into it. Since I finished up with O’Mahonys last year I didn’t do a whole pile and I haven’t gone back training with O’Mahonys yet, so it is great for something like this cycle to come along because it has given me focus again and a target to reach.
“Getting up on the bike is non-weight bearing and there is no twisting and turning. For the first time in years I can go out, jump on a bike and get a full session done. You come back tired, but not sore and that is brilliant.
“It is the first time in a couple of years that I haven’t been in pain after training or exercise.
“I’ve really been bitten by the cycling bug. I dived head first into it and I’m loving every minute of it.
“Since the 2014 Leinster final when this hip injury really came to a head, I haven’t been able to do things that I was able to do before in terms of training and preparing for games.
“All of last year I trained fully with Meath just twice and I don’t think I even completed a full session with O’Mahonys either.
“Most of my time was spent doing rehabilitation exercises and trying to get the hip into good enough shape to be able to take to the pitch.
“Even then I was struggling through games and then I would struggle with pain for two or three weeks after until we got to the next game and then I just repeated the process.
“Mentally it was all very draining. I knew I wasn’t where I wanted to be physically, but I was always trying my best, so that took a lot of mental preparation as well.
“Last year was so frustrating. I always tried my best to get out and then when I was on the pitch I put everything I had into leaving all on the pitch.
“It was exhausting maintaining the effort it took just trying to get onto the pitch.
“Without doubt the last couple of years have made my hip worse. In 2014 my surgeon said that my days of playing inter-county football were numbered. He gave me a choice -continuing playing football and get my hip replaced in five years or stop then and I might be able to prolong it. The hip replacement is inevitable because the joint just won’t last.
“So I had to retire because I simply couldn’t prepare properly for games and the way the game has gone you cannot get away without preparing properly, even at club football.
“There is now a huge amount of conditioning even in club football. In terms of the volume of training has increased, my body just will not allow me to do that. I would be playing catch up the whole time.
“I’m not ruling out coming back with O’Mahonys. I will try to do a bit of training over the summer and see how it goes, but it is highly unlikely I will be able to do the work necessary to compete at that level.”
Having come to terms with the career-ending injury Reilly looks back on his playing days with Meath with a lot of 'what ifs’.
He never once shirked a challenge and while the plethora of medals his effort deserved may have eluded him, he is very proud to have worn the green and gold of his beloved county.
“I am very proud of my career, not everyone gets the chance to pull on a Meath jersey so to have had that chance for 11 years is very special and something that I never took for granted because retirment does come.
“Unfortunately that day has come earlier than I would have expected and now I will never get back into that Meath jersey again.
“For the time that I was in the jersey I made the most of it and I was grateful for every opportunity because it is shortlived.
“We had some high points during my career and looking back at some of the teams I played on since 2005 there has been some very very strong teams and with a little bit more luck things might have been different.
“Between 2007 and 2010 we reached two All-Ireland semi-finals, ran Dublin close a couple of times and beat them on the way to winning Leinster.
“With a little bit of luck things might have been a bit different, but I’m happy that every time I went out I gave it my all and left everything I had out on the pitch,” he concluded.

 

To donate to the charity cycle from Navan to Galway visit iDonate.ie | Support Bumbleance Charity Cycle Navan to Galway | iDonate.ie - Online Fundraising and SMS Donation or on Facebook Bumbleance-Charity-Cycle-Navan-to-Galway-2016