PLAYING for Kerry meant the sun, moon and stars to Tomás Ó Sé.
It was drilled into him from the moment he could kick a ball, and coming from football royalty meant it would never be any other way.
Their iconic uncle, Páidí had been there and done it. Eight All-Irelands, no pressure. Tomás wrapped up in 2013 with five.
Older sibling Darragh has six, and Marc’s five Celtic Crosses brought the haul to 16.
Wearing the green and gold was always the centre of their universe and always will be.
That’s why it baffles Tomás when the youth of today don’t share that burning desire. In his eyes Kerry football is, and always should be, number one.
Ó Sé was at the launch of the Dalata Hotel group’s five-year sponsorship of the under-20-football championship last week, and his mood changed when the AFL arose.
His former under-20 ace Cillian Burke, 21, joined the Geelong Cats last year. His fellow Dingle man Mark O’Connor made a high profile move to the club in 2016 when he was 19.
The five-time All-Star made it clear he has no beef with any young player going away to see the other side of the world and experience professional sport.
He revealed one AFL outfit has been tapping up one of his current stars, crossing an invisible ethical line.
They have even given the player feedback on club performances they were able to access on streaming platforms.
Stars are grown and developed here by club coaches volunteering countless hours before the lucky ones make that leap into the holy grail of an inter-county squad.
In turn, AFL clubs can just just tap up whoever they want and poach talent without a care in the world. It’s nothing short of lousy.
Ó Sé admitted the GAA’s hands are tied, especially as an amateur association. But that desire to play for Kerry that burned inside him is not there in some of today’s stars – and that’s what hurts him most.
The world is a much smaller place, and the lure of exploring it to play AFL or just jet off to foreign shores is greater than ever.
For many reasons, that hunger and desire to stay here and live the inter-county dream is not as strong.
Just yesterday, Meath captain Aoibhin Cleary became the 40th Irish star to join the AFLW for the 2025 campaign when she penned a two-year deal with Richmond.
That’s some number, and it will only grow. The Irish players out there are having a ball, from former Dublin hero Sinead Goldrick, 34, to North Melbourne star Erika O’Shea, 22.
O’Shea has always voiced her desire to come home and play for Cork again and plenty of other GAA players out there have said the same about their counties.
But Ireland is not doing enough to entice young people to stay either, and the country is actively failing them in that regard.
Most of them cannot afford to buy their own homes, and rents are spiralling out of control too.
Careers in nursing and teaching offer a much greater quality of life on foreign shores and for many, picking between Dubai and Dingle or Meath and Melbourne is an easy choice.
Phones and the impact of social media are eroding how we connect as human beings and Ó Sé is even watching simple things like spending time in the dressing room after training fade before him.
On top of that, society is changing. One in five Irish children stop participating in sport when they transition from primary to secondary school, which is a big worry.
That grá for sport that was once among us all is just not as prominent among today’s youth, and other paths in life are just more appealing to a more than most.
As Ó Sé said: “I don’t know why, lads. I think it’s easier to walk away now, I think there’s more variety and look, lads are living their lives.
“I was brought up a different way and I think a different way about it but I understand, I can see why they would do that. It’s just different, I think we have to accept that and go with it.
“It’s good, I don’t mind as long as they’re tuned in to the football. but yeah, there is, there’s probably lads that can walk away from it easier, yeah.”
Of course, countless kids out there still want to be the next David Clifford, Cian Lynch or Vikki Wall – and the GAA need to ensure those dreams never die.
But the big, bad world out there is changing those ambitions Ó Sé had as a child before living them as an adult, whether we like it or not.
