Taking Ker’ of business
By William O'Connor
HE IS one of the unsung heroes in the Ballyboden St Enda’s senior football team, but Andrew Kerin was recognised for his superb displays as he was named the AIB Leinster Club Player of the Year at a cere-mony in Croke Park last week.
Kerin would be seen by local senior football teams as a lively dangerous corner forward and a model of consistency for the Firhouse Road side over the past 10 years.
He speaks this week ahead of Ballyboden’s All-Ireland semi-final with Clonmel Commercials, training with John Coughlan who is co-ordinating the team’s training regime from China.
John Coughlan helped master-mind the Firhouse Road club’s first Leinster title in December.
But Coughlan was a man in demand and he jetted off to the Far East, where he is now looking after a team of Chinese Olympic sprinters, including Su Bingtian – the first man from the continent to run 100m in less than ten seconds.
“We were lucky to have a guy, John Coughlan, working with us throughout the year,” explained ‘Boden’s Andrew Kerin.
“He really raised the bar. We actually lost him the week of the final. He got hired by the Chinese government and he’s over there now coaching the Chinese Olympic sprinting team.
“He’s full-time trainer of the first Asian 100m runner to run under ten seconds. We were blessed that Andy McEntee our manager is really good friend with him and he came on board.
“He put a lot of work into the fitness side of things. There wasn’t much running around the field, it was much more intense and I think our fitness really came on from that.
“In fairness to him, he’s directing operations from China. He’s on the WhatsApp group and he’s sending the gym sessions over from China and I’m pretty sure he’s telling Andy what to do in training.” Boden take on surprise Munster champions Clonmel Commercials in the All-Ireland semi-final on Saturday.
Kerin will, as usual, lead the line. The 33-year-old is a brilliant free-taker and he always chips in from play too, making him one of the most consistent club forwards in the county.
Despite this he never got much of a look in with Dublin inter-county teams, though this isn’t something that has ever cost him much thought.
“Back in 2009 we won the Championship and I got called up to the panel,” he recalled. “To be honest with you, I wasn’t fit enough at the time.
“There was six or seven of us put on a fitness programme in DCU, went through that and played a few challenge games. It just never really worked out.
“I won’t say I didn’t have ambitions to do that, but it didn’t bother me too much. I did have talks with Jim Gavin a few years ago, but I really just enjoy the lads on this team and I’ve been on this team since making my debut with the seniors in 2002 or ’03” he explained.
