Kerry experience inspired Gavin Crowley's tech business venture

As he progressed through the underage levels with Kerry, Gavin Crowley would often wonder why some standout players from the younger grades were no longer involved.

The Templenoe man joined Kerry’s underage development squads at U14, and progressed all the way to senior level, starting the drawn 2019 All-Ireland final and replay, and being part of the Sam Maguire winning panel of 2022.

“They could be your friends as you're growing up, then you reach minor level and some of them aren't making it, or some of them are dropping out of football," says Crowley. "You think that this guy at minor level is definitely going to make it at senior but never did.”

It wasn’t until Crowley did a degree in Health and Leisure at MTU Kerry that he realised the promise those players had shown at a young age was ultimately their downfall. They were being pulled from all directions by too many teams.

“Maybe they got injured or got sick of playing because they were being overloaded - not just physically but mentally overloaded - and the enjoyment fell away,” he says.

“Maybe they lost interest because they were getting injured all the time. You probably have lads, 14-years-old, but they're playing with the U16s as well in every sport. They could have been playing on 10 different teams at a young age.

“You just wonder if those players were looked after better, would they have gone on and played at senior inter-county level? Possibly.”

The experience inspired him to do a research masters in youth load monitoring, and last week launch YouMon, an app which he believes can help players better navigate the bumpy underage sport road.

YouMon allows players, their parents and coaches to monitor workload, injuries and schedules. They can keep tabs on growth rates and maturation. It also provides a safe method of communication between players and coaches.

“The main thing I wanted to combat was players playing multiple sports but the coaches aren't talking to each other,” says Crowley. “That’s really the core of why I developed YouMon.”

Since the launch, Crowley has been blown away by the traffic to their website, and the enquiries from those looking for demonstrations. The app had been “three or four years” in development. He’s now onto a different stage: Marketing. Getting customers and turning this into a profitable business is the next step. Two years spent working with Optimum Nutrition has given him some sales experience. Crowley works as a personal trainer at a gym in Kenmare. That takes up his mornings and evenings. In between, he works on YouMon. Being a parent to two children takes up everything else.

“Playing with Kerry, it does give you that sense of confidence to do things by yourself,” he says.

“If I hadn't played with Kerry, I don't know if I would have had the confidence to launch an app like this myself. If I hadn't played with Kerry, would I have had this idea? Probably not.

“A big thing for me was that I had highly experienced coaches. You have the likes of Jason McGahan and Fionn Fitzgerald who are experts in their fields. The fact I played with Kerry, had access to those coaches, it was a great help that I was able to bounce the ideas off them.”

It’s two years since Crowley retired from inter-county football. There was no statement. He slipped off quietly after the 2023 National League knowing nothing could top lifting Sam Maguire with his son the previous July. Jack O’Connor was “very accommodating”. The manager understood the player’s reasons.

“I retired from Kerry when I was 29,” says Crowley.

“That's probably young for most people but considering I started playing with Kerry at 14, it seems like a long time. Could I have gone on for longer? Possibly.

“I felt I wasn't able to give 100% to Kerry anymore. I had other commitments: a small child, a wife. You're thinking that you love Kerry so much that if I wasn't able to give 100%, you're better off giving someone who can their go at it.

“Looking back, if you're playing every day, you're starting every time, you are more likely to stick at it. If you're not playing as much as you want, you have to weigh up if it's worth it anymore.

“It's when you step away that you look back and think about the amount of commitment that's involved at that level, the amount of days and nights of effort those lads put in is crazy. You have huge respect for the lads that are in there now. If you're not able to give your all to it, you can get left behind fairly fast.”

Crowley is now giving his all to ensure young players, like his friends in those development squads nearly two decades ago, don’t get left behind.

You can find out more at YouMon.ie or by emailing gavin@youmon.ie

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