Jason Forde - the Tipperary hurler with interesting day job and GAA scandal

Irish Daily Mirror

5 days ago

Jason Forde, the stalwart of Tipperary hurling, has been a mainstay in the team for over ten years.
The Silvermines native and double All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship victor is a formidable presence on the field, with his impressive list of honours to prove it.
Let's delve into his eventful life both on and off the GAA pitch. Tipperary Career
Jason was just 16 years of age when he was first called up to the Tipperary minor panel. He played in the 2010 and 2011 seasons before moving to the U/21 set up in 2012.
He enjoyed three years at the grade, including captaining the side in 2014, but he never won any silverware. The Silvermines man got immediate success at senior level after inter-county debut in the semi-final of the 2013 Waterford Crystal Cup, winning Munster Senior Hurling Championship medals in 2015 and 2016.
He added two All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship medals to his collection in 2016 and 2019. He was nominated for an All-Star Award for his solo efforts on the pitch in 2019.
"The big aim was to get back to Croke Park this year," he told RTÉ recently.
"These younger players need to get there and experience that. A lot of that team have never played in Croke Park before with the under 20 matches being in Nowlan Park and different places.
"We'll be relishing it, another two weeks, back to training on Tuesday and go as it as hard as we can." Suspension Following Davy Fitzgerald Controversy
Jason missed the opening round of the Munster hurling championship back in 2017 after he was hit with a one-match ban following an on field scuffle with the then Wexford manager Davy Fitzgerald. The Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) charged Forde with an alleged "assault on an opposing team official" after Davy stormed on to the pitch after a decision from the referee.
"The whole thing with social media, it kind of steamrolled from there," he said afterwards.
"The cameras picked it up and there was more made out of it than probably needed to be.
"The CCCC have their job to do, they have to pick up on incidents that happen. They just ran with it from there then."
Jason originally thought that Tipperary boss Michael Ryan was joking when he told him he faced a ban from playing the game.
He said: "When he was telling me down the phone I thought to myself, 'Is he actually being serious here, or what's the story?'
"Unfortunately it was serious and we ended up having to go up to Croke Park a couple of times as well. It definitely wasn't ideal.
"Looking back, the way it panned out, you wish you didn't get into that altercation.
"These things happen. Davy Fitzgerald, in fairness to him, he came out and said there wasn't much in it.
"I think most people would be in agreement that there wasn't much in it but I suppose the GAA have a job to do as well and they made a decision. That was kind of hard to take at the time.
"To be dealing with all that stuff, the possibility of being suspended... I didn't know whether I was or I wasn't and I ended up playing in the League final but then you find out that you do (have to serve a suspension) and you miss the first round of the Championship." Relationship and Girlfriend
Jason was photographed with Claire Collins when they stepped out together for PwC All Stars awards at the Convention Centre in Dublin in 2018 and 2019. They also previously shared pictures together on social media.
It is unknown if he is currently in a relationship. Day Job
Away from his busy hurling schedule, Jason runs a very successful personal training business. He focuses on structured programming and training and nutrition both online and in person.
He began this business after taking a break from his day job as a secondary school teacher in Nenagh College.
"It's a large scope of people. I have GAA athletes who are looking to work on certain performance markers. Increasing speed and acceleration is a big one I've had over the last number of months," he told Balls.ie
"Especially now that you're in the off-season, people try to work on different things. We have various ways of testing those and putting parameters on their sporting goals.
"You have people looking to lose a bit of weight, get back into the shape that they were in previously, just improve their overall health." Age, Height and Where He's From
Jason was born on December 1993, making him 31 years of age. He is 6 ft 1 in height.
The two time All-Ireland winner plays for his local GAA club, Silvermines.