Conor Whelan would like to see the All-Ireland Hurling Championship extended into August rather than concluding as it does in July. From a player's perspective, the Galway hurler believes there are "pros and cons" to the current calendar.
"I was able to go travelling last year after we got knocked out in the semi-final," says Whelan, the PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month for June in hurling.
"I'm 26 now. I joined the Galway senior setup straight from minor when I was 18. We got knocked out of the championship in 2019 against Dublin and I did a summer in Boston. Other than that, I'd never really travelled before.
"I was fortunate that I'd just started a PhD and I was able to travel with that. It was something that I really enjoyed.
"I went to Thailand and Vietnam. I'm an English and history teacher so I found Vietnam very interesting. I went on to San Fran, and went to a family wedding. I was there for five or six weeks, and moved on to Lisbon for a month, and Malaga as well.
20 July 2023; PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month for June in hurling, Conor Whelan of Galway, with his award in Eyre Square in Galway. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
"We had a very nice break. I was doing some training abroad. It was nice to have a break from the Irish winter. I met lots of Irish people along the way. We seem to have somebody everywhere. It's something I hadn't had the chance to do before.
"When I first started out, we were in the final in '15, the final in '17 and '18, and you were going on team holidays. Then when you're getting to finals, you weren't getting that period to travel. Then, when the championship became a split season, no longer was there a period around Christmas where you could enjoy it as much.
"It was a time period I looked at and said, 'I'm at the perfect stage now, transitioning from being a teacher and going back to college'. Travel is something that always fascinated me and I have lots of friends over in Australia. I'm hoping to get to visit them later on this year."
Whelan, who is doing a PhD in mental health and wellbeing at UCC, says he had "a couple of motivations" for returning to education.
3 September 2017; Joe Canning, Conor Whelan and Galway kit manager James 'Tex' Callaghan hold a flag in honour of Niall Donohue following the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final match between Galway and Waterford at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
"I had been a teacher for four years," says Whelan.
"Obviously, I lost a first cousin, Niall Donohoe, to suicide. I had initially thought about doing a PhD after my Masters in Education. Then I decided to go and teach.
"During Covid, this was something I thought a lot about. It's a tough thing to do, to go back to college. I was looking at what I'd do a PhD in.
"It clicked with me in terms of mental health and wellbeing. I was initially going to do it in post-primary students because they were the ones I taught. Then, when I went researching, I found that was very much a saturated area. Then I look at third level, and was drawing from my own experiences, thinking this is a space I'd like to learn about. The more I researched it, I became fascinated with it.
"I ended up looking at student athletes and the challenges they face, having been one myself. At the moment, you're looking at your average GAA student athlete who can end up playing for five or six teams and the challenges they face, both academically and from a physical perspective.
"It's relevant to my life, and I wanted to become educated in the area of mental health and wellbeing. Who knows where it will go?"
Though he is a UCC student, Whelan is still based in Galway.
"It's a research PhD so it's not all online but a lot of my research is done online accessing journals and stuff like that. I do go down once a month," he says.
"It's nice to be able to change it up. I'd probably like to be on campus a bit more but the travel from Galway wouldn't really work with training. We can't have it every way.
"I'm definitely another year and a half away anyway. It's one of those things that's a long journey. The amount of learning, change and development in it...
"People tell you that a PhD is tough but you really don't know until you start it. Everything I thought I knew about mental health and wellbeing, and everything I thought I knew about adolescents and teenagers, it's just completely mindboggling. It's been very enjoyable and I have a very good team around me."
