Two-time All-Ireland-winning Tyrone manager Mickey Harte and ex-Dublin football boss Paul 'Pillar' Caffrey have been helping a Junior football club from Cavan towards their goal of winning their local championship. The two GAA stars have been working with little-known Munterconnaught GFC, who are the stars of Powerade's 'Never Give Up' campaign for 2008. Munterconnaught, who are based just outside Virginia, were selected from an initial entry of close to 200 clubs for the Powerade campaign back in January. With their last championship title win being back in 1994, they have sought the help of Powerade to bridge that 14 year gap. Since the sports drink have come on board, they have received training, nutritional and motivational advice from the likes of Harte, Caffrey and Irish and Munster rugby star, Paul O'Connell. Both Harte and O'Connell visited the club on separate evenings earlier this year and talked to the team on various topics, including dealing with pressure and what it takes to win at the top level, while O'Connell put the squad through a gruelling training session. Munterconnaught won the first round of the championship recently and O'Connell teamed up with Caffrey on Sunday, August 17th to help the club prepare for their next match in the campaign - a quarter-final clash with title-favourites, Drung. Over the course of an hour the rugby and GAA stars talked to the Cavan team on various sporting topics regarding mental and physical preparation for big matches. Caffrey talked about pride in the team and how players should only focus on what they can control - their own play and how they play against their marker. He emphasised that there was no point in worrying about circumstances you can't control such as other players and the weather as these factors can drain a team's focus. O'Connell, who was just back from training with the Irish team and preparing to travel to the US with Munster for a pre-season tour, spoke about the importance of trusting your team-mates and making sure you convince them that your fitness won't let the team down. He stressed that it's the players' responsibility to deliver and that all the hard work pays off in the end. The meeting finished up with a question and answer session with both stars fielding queries on the preparation for a major rugby match against Toulouse, to the Dublin-Meath inter-county rivalry. Club Treasurer, Aisling Matthews then presented both O'Connell and Caffrey with Munterconnaught jerseys, with both speakers wishing the team luck with their quarter final challenge. Munterconnaught had played and defeated St. Brigid's from Castleknock earlier in the day and attended Croke Park later in the afternoon for the All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Waterford and Tipperary. The 2008 "Never Give Up" campaign follows on from the 2007 campaign which saw Powerade tracking Will Cullen, the 22 year old bank official from Dublin who progressed from not being able to swim in March to completing an Olympic-distance triathlon in August. An important part of the campaign is Powerade's continued association with charities working in the field of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. As part of the prize Munterconnaught received an Automated External Defibrillator which medical experts testify can be the difference between life and death when sudden heart attacks strike young people. The Powerade Team of 2008 are also helping to raise funds and awareness for The Mater Foundation in the Republic of Ireland and The Cormac Trust in Northern Ireland. Powerade is the preferred sports drink of the Dublin, Galway, Down, Wicklow and Wexford Gaelic Football, Hurling and Camogie teams, as well as others including the Irish international rugby team. It has been proven in studies conducted by the University of Ulster in 2005, to help prolong stamina and delay muscle fatigue in athletes when taken 15 minutes before activity, allowing players to reach their full potential and beyond. Tweet

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