Kevin Penrose praises Ronan McNamee for helping him return to football after coming out
When Tyrone footballer Kevin Penrose came out as gay, one of the challenges and worries he faced was how he would be accepted in the GAA community.
After travelling to Asia after the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022, Penrose came out to his parents over a video call.
Advertisement
Spending so long struggling with his sexuality, the Tyrone man was now able to live his life more freely, but did wonder how, and if he could return to the GAA.
While those around him were unaware, the culture in dressing rooms and on the pitch was not a pleasant experience.
"It's the time when you're finding yourself anyway, as a teenager, you're not really knowing what's going on.
"You're sort of, 'Okay. I need to stand out here to fit in, to be liked.' You just hear the words being thrown around the changing room or on the pitch, and it sort of makes you go back into yourself.
Advertisement
"Like, for me, I could be in the corner of the changing room thinking, 'Okay, I can't act this way, or talk about this, or I have to get involved in this banter, per se, to fit in.'"
One person who was crucial to his return was All-Ireland winner Ronan McNamee, who reached out to him to return to his club Aghyaran.
A close friend as well as a teammate, Penrose says McNamee's influence was "massive" to him returning.
"It's massive, you know. We've grown up together. We played under age together, went to the same schools, you know. We always were quite close in that way, you know.
Advertisement
"You know, Ronan is very straight to the point, just tell you how it is, which I think is what you need in that moment.
"But to have...like, it's your senior county player as well, to come and have those talks with you, it's encouraging. It sort of again, goes back to setting an example.
"If your ally and advocate is Ronan McNamee, you're off to a good start. It just shows he's willing to take up that role, I guess, you know, and have the difficult conversation that someone else mightn't have the confidence to do.
"Having him just sort of nudge me slightly after a few conversations, you know, just reassure me like, 'No one's going to judge you, like you're very welcome here.
Advertisement
"It makes coming back to football that lot easier. And, of course, he is right in the end. I just walked into the first training session back, and it was just normal.
"You know, it's just like, 'Well done. Congrats on coming out. How are you going back into the scene? Now, let's get into the nitty gritty stuff.' You know? You leave that at the gate, then, once you do go back, and everyone's just there to play football."
Coming from a family of hugely successful footballers, Penrose now plays with a weight lifted off his shoulders.
The Aghyaran man admitted his playing struggles while he had not come out to anyone, and the toll it took on the pitch.
Advertisement
"I am not thinking about anything anymore. Back when I was still in the closet, I couldn't figure out why I couldn't make the senior team, for example.
"I was doing the training the same as everyone else, but I just wasn't getting the same opportunity. I just thought to myself, I am just not a good footballer, even though I knew I was a good footballer.
"Coming from a full-on GAA family, I grew up with from five years old. I knew I had the talent, I just couldn't really hit my potential; it was just a mental block.
"Now it has completely changed. I have pulled myself into that team, I have got my starting position, and making a real impact on the team. It is crazy to see the difference that one thing was holding me back."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
McGuinness 'delighted' with Donegal progression
Donegal manager Jim McGuinness says he is "delighted" after securing an All-Ireland quarter-final berth. Conor O'Donnell and Ciaran Thompson netted as the Ulster champions ran out 2-22 to 0-12 winners over will be pitted against either Meath or Ulster rivals Monaghan in the draw for the last eight on Monday."We're delighted to be in the quarter-final draw, that was the overwhelming ambition coming into the game," McGuinness told BBC Sport NI."We're very happy to be there."The quarter-final will be a ninth Championship match in the space of 13 weeks for Donegal, a schedule McGuinness admits is "gruelling".However, the Tir Chonaill boss is looking at the positives and says "we don't want to go down that road"."We had three big games ahead of us. Thankfully we've navigated two and we've one more ahead of us. "We're delighted to have that opportunity to play in that game, regardless of who we get in what will be a very tough draw."We'll take the positives and take the learnings from today, and hopefully we can build on that for next week."It's going to be very difficult to navigate the next round but that's were we want to be."
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Harry Brook smiles and riles India's attack with swagger and fortune
Scientists say that the typical human can recognise 21 distinct facial expressions. After seven years of Test cricket, Jasprit Bumrah has grown to know a good handful of them about as well as any man can, from awe, through disgust, to fear, sadness, surprise and all their many combinations. You would guess it's been a while since he's seen a happy batsmen looking back at him from 22 yards, but if you had the binoculars on Harry Brook first thing on Sunday morning, you could see he was wearing such a big, goofy grin that his teeth were glinting through the gloaming. You don't want to kink-shame him, but you'd think there must be easier ways to get your kicks than to go running down the pitch to hit a man bowling 90mph bouncers. But Brook's brain seems to be wired a little differently. On the third ball Bumrah bowled him on Sunday, he decided to take two quick steps forwards and wallop it through the covers for four. It was an extraordinary shot, in an innings studded with them. Brook picked up one of Prasidh Krishna's short balls from outside off and heaved it into the stands beyond mid-wicket; he walked down the pitch to launch Mohammad Siraj over the silly mid-off he's just set to try and deter exactly that shot, and even played Rishabh Pant's roly-poly scoop over the wicketkeeper to score a four off Ravindra Jadeja. It was like watching a kid copying the trick he'd just seen on TV, except he got away with it. These aren't strokes your typical batsman could imagine, let alone execute. But then Brook is the most richly gifted shotmaker England have had since Kevin Pietersen was in the team. Time was, and not so long ago, when you would have been told off for trying them. But Brendon McCullum is the only England coach Brook has ever known – he has grown up being encouraged to play this way. By the time the second new ball came around, India's bowlers had had just about enough of it. They already thought they'd got Brook out once when he couldn't help himself but try to hook one of Bumrah's bouncers and was caught at midwicket off what turned out to be a no-ball, and then they thought they had got him a second time when he edged a ball from Jadeja through to Pant, who couldn't hold on to the catch. They had spent all morning trying, and failing, to persuade the umpires to let them change the soft ball they'd been working with, and now they finally had a shiny new one by right. They gave it to Siraj. He is one of those bowlers who likes to pick a fight, and always seems to be pissed off with his lot. The Telangana police recently swore him in as an honorary deputy constable, and he has the air of a man you wouldn't want to make ask twice to see your licence. Siraj beat Brook once outside off, when Brook swung so hard at a cut that he threw himself off his feet, then he beat him again when he hit his inside edge and the ball ricocheted away off his thigh. He was starting to warm up, then Brook went and belted his next two deliveries for four, and he reached a boil. Siraj banged the next ball in short at Brooks's ribs, and hit him on the elbow. He followed the delivery in and, while Brook winced, Siraj stood in the middle of the pitch, staring at him. He shot him a couple of kind words – exactly what is between the two of them – and then a length delivery which Brook spanked back over his head for six. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion He might as well have flicked him on the forehead. Siraj fired the next one in so quick that even though Brook missed it, it shot off his pads for four leg byes. When Siraj overcorrected himself and dropped the next one wide on the off-side, Brook hammered him for four more through point. That made it 18 off the over. And it was at this point that Pant decided everyone needed a time out, and called a trainer on to strap up his ankle. His teammates gathered in a huddle. Apart from Siraj who stood, hands on hips, staring into the distance. He looked as if he was going to blow up if anyone came within three feet of him. Somewhere in among all this, Brook was dropped yet again when he cut one of Bumrah's away-swingers to gully. He was finally out on 99, caught in the deep. You sometimes wonder if there's a thought in his head at all, except to belt the ball. In this, at least, he is part of a long Yorkshire tradition – Geoff Boycott, Herbert Sutcliffe and Norman Yardley all got out one shy of a Test hundred in their time, too, though you have to guess they probably weren't trying to belt a six when they did it.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Devine wins third Donegal International Rally in a row
Callum Devine came through a demanding Donegal International Rally to win the event for a third year in a row. The 2023 Irish Tarmac Rally champion won the three-day event - one of the most famous rallies in Europe - alongside co-driver Noel O'Sullivan by 20.5 seconds ahead of Wales' Meirion Evans, while local driver David Kelly was third. Skoda driver Devine, 31, led after Friday's six stages but a gruelling Saturday saw a number of big names drop out of contention. European Rally Championship driver Jon Armstrong posted a number of fastest stage times and was challenging Devine on Saturday's first loop but a differential problem on his Ford Fiesta dropped him out of contention, and a second mechanical issue halted his recovery later in the day. Two time ERC champion Hayden Paddon, a late entry for the rally from New Zealand, was in the mix for victory but rolled out on Saturday's penultimate stage. The final stage on Saturday claimed British Rally Championship title challenger William Creighton, who slid off the road with a slow puncture and decided to retire his Toyota Yaris. The various issues for front runners took away from what could have been a titanic battle for the win in the Donegal hills as just 20 seconds separated Devine, Creighton, Evans and Paddon after 12 as his rivals faltered, Devine, who himself battled handbrake issues, kept his cool to win the rally for the third consecutive and co-driver Ger Conway were a comfortable second and, despite his issues, Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne had moved back into podium contention but the Fermanagh driver retired after an off on the final promoted Kelly and navigator Arthur Kierans onto the final step of the podium for the second year in a row.
