After my senior year of college in America, I was generously offered a position to get my masters in Sport Management at The University of Ulster. I received a sport scholarship from the university, and I am also doing some work with Sport Changes Life. It was an offer that I couldn’t pass up. What more could I ask for? A masters and I get to play basketball at a high level in Ireland again. I also get to work in the community and give back to the younger kids that need it the most. Working with SCL is going to be a great experience for me. It is such a great organisation that puts the kids first and just wants to help. I will also get the chance to put my undergrad to the test as I work with the marketing side of the company.
Living away from home is something that I am used to now but, it’s great that I am much closer to my Mam and Dad. It’s brilliant that they are able to come to my games after not seeing me play in 3 years. My parents have always been my biggest supporters. I’ll also be home for Christmas for the first time in 3 years which I can’t wait for. Being away for so long has taught me to how to fend for myself and in fairness to my parents they did a good job preparing me 3 years ago.
In terms of basketball, playing in America was like having a job but, it was the best job in the world. We practiced every day and spent all our time together. In comparison to here, we practice twice a week for 2 hours a session. It’s nice in a way as it gives me time to do some individual workouts that I learned while at Birmingham Southern. Hopefully I can get a few of the lads to buy in to that type of mentality too while I’m here, as two days a week is not enough in my opinion. You need to be doing stuff on your own too. Playing at BSC has made me a completely better player overall, and I’m glad I get to show that while playing with Ulster University. They are a great club and have good support. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do in years to come as there are some great young players that I think could be really good.
A big thanks to Conor for this piece. Conor featured on of the podcast earlier this year Check out #Episode 31
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