The importance of volunteerism cannot be underestimated, and perhaps in no strand of society is that felt more than in sport - just ask Kieran Donaghy.
Donaghy and his former coach and mentor Jimmy Diggins joined us on OTB AM to help launch the 2020 Federation of Irish Sport Volunteers in Sport Awards supported by EBS (details below).
The former Kerry footballer and current Tralee basketball star says the impact volunteers can have on a young person's life or career cannot be understated.
"Jimmy says I always showed great enthusiasm, because I loved what I was doing. I loved football and basketball, and the coaches I would have had.
"The great James Hobbart would have created the first bit of basketball in Tralee. James was with me when I was under-10s and under-12s, and he just ignited a little fire inside me about the game.
"His enthusiasm and the support he'd give you, you'd be only catching a ball. He used to throw the ball up in the air and you'd go up to catch it and he'd be like 'Out of the clouds Donaghy boy, that's a massive catch!'
"I'd jog back into the line kind of going 'Let's go, let's bring on the next jump I can run out for.' I was mad to run out and try to catch the ball to impress him.
"Very basic stuff, but he lit that spark inside me, it's huge."
Donaghy says even something as simple as spending time helping a young player hone a particular skill can pay huge dividends in the long-term.
"I had a person similar in basketball, Seánie Burrows, who was an Irish international who I used to watch when the Super League team were training.
30 July 2020; EBS ambassadors and Tralee Warriors Basketball Club stalwarts, Kieran Donaghy, left, and Jimmy Diggins, pictured at the launch of the 2020 Federation of Irish Sport Volunteers in Sport Awards supported by EBS. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile"I had interest in the game obviously... I was able to shoot on the side baskets. I used to shoot with my elbow to the side and Seánie straightened in my elbow.
"Of course when you do a massive adjustment like that on your shot you can't hit the rim for the first day or two. But he told me, 'You'll get frustrated with it, but stick with it and I'll see you back here on Friday night and you should be going a bit better.'
"And, true enough, the following Friday night I came back and I had it figured out and I was making more shots, I was more consistent. [He] just took a bit of time out of his day but shooting became a big part of my game as an Irish international underage, I was a very good three-point shooter.
"Little things like that, it all goes back to a volunteer, so they are crucial in every walk of life. It shows the goodwill in the Irish people.
"When you nominate [your chosen volunteer] I would send them the letter, the reasons why you're nominating them.
"There are a lot of people who might have coached a kid 20 years ago, and if they got a letter through the door going 'Listen, I nominated you for this, you were so good to me when I was under-8s, under-10s', that's as good as anything.
"They don't need any national award, if they get that off a player, that would make their day. During this time with Covid, if there are older people out there that have spent 30 or 40 years volunteering at clubs and societies around the country, a little letter to them could make a big difference in the current situation we're in."
Diggins became the first Kerryman inducted into Basketball Ireland's Coaches Hall of Fame four years ago, and he was full of praise for how Kieran has given back himself to his local community.
"He's one of the best guys I ever came across. I've said it to him, tears came from my eyes after one game above in Dublin to win the league there two years ago.
Sport in Ireland might stop, but they’ll never quit. All 450,000 of them. Nominate your everyday hero.
— EBS (@EBSIreland) August 18, 2020
"What he gives to the team, what he gives to the sport, what he gives to the youth, the whole community, it's a pleasure to be a volunteer then when you see that from a guy who I knew when he was 16.
"He came through the whole system... but he still puts so much back into it now and this is what I like about him. He just gives himself 200 per cent in everything he puts his mind down to do.
"This is a pleasure volunteers get when they see this continuing, this doesn't die."
We were joined today by Kieran Donaghy and Jimmy Diggins of Tralee Warriors basketball club, to help launch the 2020 Federation of Irish Sport Volunteers in Sport Awards supported by EBS.
The awards will see EBS and the Federation of Irish Sport hero the work of volunteers from around the country, who go above and beyond every day to ensure that sport takes place in Ireland.
Volunteers in sport in Ireland dedicate some 37.2 million hours of volunteering across the country’s 13,000+ sports clubs and associations each year.
EBS wants to recognise that dedication and that passion and, through this partnership with the Federation of Irish Sport, looks forward to heroing these volunteers at an awards ceremony this November.
To nominate an everyday hero, simply visit http://www.volunteersinsport.ie/. Nominations can be made by a club, individual or sporting body and are open from July 30th, 2020 to September 25th, 2020.
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