Last season marked 20 years since Tony Healy broke through to bring the All-Ireland 40x20 Senior Singles title to Cork for the first time. Paul Fitzpatrick caught up with the Ballydesmond legend.
In 1998, the late Mick Dunne, a great friend to handball, penned an article in the now-defunct GAA magazine HighBall. At the top of the page was a photo of Tony Healy, the Corkman who would soon shake up the handball world.
The headline ran to just four words but its message spoke volumes: “The old order changeth.”
The Ballydesmond man had just won the All-Ireland Intermediate Singles title in the 40x20 court and was being spoken about as a potential superstar. The RTE broadcaster’s words proved prescient; within 12 months, the crown prince had ascended to the throne and soon he would cement his position as the king of Irish 40x20 handball.
When he looks back now at those innocent, pre-smartphone days, a few things stand out for the Corkman. For one, while he had sparred with them, he had rarely had the chance to go toe-to-toe competitively with the sport’s heavyweights. But a fierce belief drove him to knock out all comers in his maiden season.
“It was quite different back then in that there were very few opportunities to play a senior player competitively unless you were one. So, I watched the top players a lot but rarely got an opportunity to compete with them,” Healy told GAAHandball.ie this week.
“Senior was completely dominated by Ducksy, Eddie Corbett, Peter McAuley and Walter O’Connor, they shared the spoils at different times but were very much
on their own as the dominant group. I was training consistently with Eddie from about 16 years of age so there was a natural progression on the court with him, from hammerings, to double digits, to taking a game or two, meaning that by the time senior came around I had the confidence to know I was in their ballpark.”
In the back of his mind, not that he was the type to shout about it, the youngster knew that he had their number. All he needed was the chance to prove it.
“This restrictive structure also meant that by 1999 I was borderline obsessed by winning the senior, and was totally convinced, with the added vigour of drive and youth, that I was going all the way.”
A talented footballer, Healy went all-in with handball after minor as he sensed a breakthrough. It arrived in Belfast when well-known official Sean McEntee invited him to the Golden Gloves and he tore through to the final.
“I beat Walter and Eddie on the way to a final loss to Peter McCauley, that was one of my only scalp opportunities back then, but it was a pivotal event for me in the confidence it gave me to be in the mix with these players, and start to challenge them rather than just looking up to them.”
Healy was class personified in the court. His arrival in senior ranks fully formed, with a complete defensive game, two-handed offense, freakish anticipation and startling speed was a sensation. He was the best teenager to emerge since Ducksy Walsh, 15 years earlier, and the best ever to break through in the small court, before or since.
Over the winter of 1998-99, he honed his game and that Spring, claimed his first Senior Singles title with a straight-games final win over the late Walsh, later adding the doubles with John Herlihy riding shotgun.
There followed a glorious career – three more Senior Singles, a US Open, another doubles All-Ireland (this time with Stephen Palmer) and countless tournaments.
His rivalry with Paul Brady was an adornment on the sport, the pair driving each other – and the standard in this country – on to a new level.
When the time came to pack it in, he did so on his terms. Where others have stayed on too long, still hearing the music but unable to keep time with the beat, Healy made his mind up and that was it. No looking back, no drama.
“I had no difficulty in stepping back really,” he says. “I had a good few injury problems in my late 20s which took some toll, got married, had kids and I was eager to gather some career momentum also as I had basically given my 20s in full to handball. “I also had learned a lot along the way about not getting your sports identity mixed up with your own identity and keeping that balance, so it was quite a natural and relaxed withdrawal.”
In recent seasons, Tony has made a welcome return to competitive play in doubles alongside clubmate Brendan Fleming. The competitive fire no longer burns like it once did but he remains a handball man.
“I still play regularly, coach, watch a lot of the online action, compete on occasion, so I still get loads of enjoyment from the game,” he says.
Few are better placed to take the temperature of the sport at present. Healy sees a lot of positives in how the game is being promoted and is particularly impressed with juvenile development among females.
“I really like the way GAA Handball has embraced the digital age with their online presence, live feeds etc. It may not be as important to the older generation, but I notice most of the kids use it regularly as a way to engage with the game. The game’s fundamental success, like all sports, is about new blood and transitioning, focus on youth participation and standards and everything else thereafter becomes easier."
“The focus and growth in ladies’ handball is working, and juvenile playing standards are rising fast. It may take a few more years but I hope we will soon see a deep field of high standard players at the top of the ladies game.”
Handball has been likened in some ways to a secret society but this niche aspect can be part of the game’s appeal, he believes. Those who play the game tend to like it; those who like it often love it. The challenge is to expose as many as possible to it in the first place, he believes.
“As a minority sport, handball has always had an internal monologue of not getting enough exposure, resources, or wider credibility but its sweet spot is still its internal cult following, full of all sorts of characters, all blessed with a combination of love, pride and obsession with game. The more we get playing, the more the cult expands!”
As for the men’s game, Healy believes it's in a good place. As a player, he could throw hands with the best any way they liked. There is a school of thought suggesting that there has been a shift towards a serve-and-kill, power-based approach in recent years but Healy is not so sure.
“I’ve heard that being said but if you take any of the top players right now you will find they all have very strong defensive games and can mix it up easily, so the general Plan A of a lot of players may be a more powerful aggressive approach, and rightly so if it suits their game, however, you will still find all the top players have adaptability when needed that others with a rigid Plan A may not.
“I include the likes of McCarthy, Nash, Mulkerrins, Shanks, Brady, Carroll in that assessment, all of whom can mix it up at will as the need arises. Anyone coming with [just] power and shooting will get found out by a good handballer very quickly.”
With the Senior Singles in men’s and ladies’ grades serving off this weekend, interest is sky high among the handball fraternity. Healy will be a curious onlooker.
“In the ladies, Catriona and Martina are now significantly ahead of the pack and while they are driving their own standards up and giving us brilliant finals, the championship needs a deeper standard,” he says.
“As I said, I am hopeful that is now only a matter of time, until then it will remain firmly between those two. “The men’s championship has almost always been dominated by very small numbers but this is starting to change now and I see probably four or five players who all would have a realistic chance of winning the title. I’m always interested in the up and comers and those who have potential still to fulfil, so this year I am interested to see if Colin Crehan can deliver on his remarkable potential, as Martin Mulkerrins has done in recent years, and put in a real challenge.
“However, now that Paul Brady is involved again, as I hear he is, it will be as much about if any of the existing crop can get his measure rather than who of those can prevail. “And with bias of course, I am still waiting for Killian to fly home for a few weeks and throw the cat among the pigeons!”
Interview by Paul Fitzpatrick