ONE - Part 1 of the Irish Amputee Football Team's Journey at the 2017 Euros in Turkey! EP049

Welcome listeners,This is a slightly different episode to normal but it's still very much following the same theme as other 1% better shows. For this two-part show, I've dipped the toe into the documentary pool for the first time. During it, I track the fortunes of the Irish Amputee Football Team as they prepared for, played in, and reflected back on their experiences from the 2017 European Amputee Football Championships that took place in Turkey in October. Ireland was one of 12 teams at the tournament. The sound clip you can hear at the very start was from Simon Baker, who is very much responsible for bringing Amputee football to Ireland. In the six years since he helped establish the team in Ireland, they've gone from strength to strength and the team were looking forward to their first Euopean Championships. So a little more background!Back in April this year, I had to pleasure to chat with David Saunders for the podcast. David plays for the Irish Amputee Football team and told his story in EP16 - www.robofthegreen.ie/episodes/episode-16-david-saunders-on-beating-cancer-resilience-and-amputee-football/. That chat has been one of the most listened to episodes of the season. One of the main areas David talked about was his involvement in and passion for the Irish Amputee Football Team. Being a big football fan myself, it stuck with me at the time that the team was starting their preparations for the Euros in Turkey. David & I stayed in touch over the summer and I reached out to him in August with an idea to do a documentary podcast about their involvement in the tournament in Turkey. The management and team liked the idea. So in September, I met with some of the players and co-manager, Nick Harrison, when I attended their final training camp in at UL in Limerick and recorded the footage you'll hear in this first part of the documentary. In part two, which will come out in a few days, you'll hear from two of the players (David Saunders and Kevan O'Rourke) directly after groups and knockout games played during the tournament. Also in part two, I connected back in with David and Nick Harrison, again, to get some insights a few weeks after the tournament and talk about what the future holds for the team in 2018. It was a great experience all the way through and I’ve enjoyed putting it together. In the introduction, I explain why I've named the documentary ONE. I really hope you enjoy listening to the two-parter where I chat with a number of team members and staff as the journey unfolds. To learn more about the Irish Amputee Football Association, you can connect in with them via the following links:Website: http://www.irishamputeefootballassociation.comFacebook: