Tuam teacher proud as punch of Olympic champion Katie Taylor

By JACQUELINE HOGGE SHE'S the nation's sweetheart, as Ireland officially welcomes home Katie Taylor and the rest of the Olympic team today (Wednesday) but Tuam can lay claim to a small role in the Bray boxer's success through the influence of one of her former teachers, who hails from Ballygaddy Road. John Murphy has been fielding questions about his most famous past pupil ever since the Tricolour was hoisted to recognise her Olympic triumph in the Women's Boxing Light (60kg) Final in London last week. Principal of her Alma Mater, St Kilian's Community School in Bray, John is proud as punch of the woman he taught maths to for six years. 'We are immensely proud and hugely happy for Katie and are totally privileged to have her in our lives,' John told The Tuam Herald. The Olympic champion attended the school from 1995 to 2001 where she was as successful academically as she was in the various sports she competed in. 'Katie is the youngest of four in the Taylor family, all of whom were students here at St Kilian's,' said John.[private] 'Academically she was always very strong, finding time to devote to her studies despite her many different sporting commitments, from boxing at club and national level to soccer at both club and international level. 'Katie also represented the school in soccer and basketball and yet she managed to maintain her studies in tandem with all the different training commitments she had. She got a great Leaving Cert and could have gone on to do any course she wanted but despite starting a course in UCD she had to abandon it due to her boxing commitments. 'But she certainly has the option of further study in the future as she is a very bright girl who seemed to work harder when faced with the stresses of all her sporting demands.' John has been teaching at the school since 1985 and following a two-year stint as deputy principal in 2009, he took over the reins as principal earlier this year. 'The excitement surrounding the school and the wider community in the past two weeks has been phenomenal and it's been wonderful to be a part of that, knowing the family as well as we do and having such a great relationship with Katie,' he said. 'She continues to visit us at the school and is often seen walking her dogs or jogging on the school sports grounds.' Katie last visited the school in May for the annual graduation Mass where John says she inspired the current Leaving Cert students. 'Katie is a model for any young person, who can see how much she has achieved through hard work, sacrifice and determination. She has always had huge ambitions and now she has fulfilled the biggest dream of all, an Olympic gold medal. 'She is a very special person who is in fact bigger now than the sport she represents as she simply has no idea of the impact she has made, both at home and now on an international stage. 'She is also an international role model for the post-Celtic Tiger Ireland in that she is a version of what the Irish people used to be about, where we knew that to achieve, you had to put in the time and effort. 'So hopefully she will help to inspire the next generation to revert to that idea of hard work and sacrifice to realise your goals.' John said he had no fears that the deluge of media attention would adversely affect Katie who, he said, was the most modest, unassuming person you could meet. 'Katie and her family live on a local authority housing estate here in Bray where the community will mind her and keep her grounded. She has an incredibly close-knit family and her parents, Peter and Bridget, have played a crucial role in her success. 'Her friends are still those girls she was friendly with here in school and the real Katie is the girl you see in their company having fun and enjoying life. What people don't realise is that the focused athlete the world sees in the boxing ring is only one side of what is a very funny, extremely good-humoured girl.' In terms of the future, John believes Katie's next step will not involve a switch from amateur to professional boxing. 'I don't think she will turn pro as she's too close to her family to want to up sticks and relocate to the US, where she would more than likely have to go in order to pursue a career in professional boxing,' he said. 'I think she can do anything she wants to do from here, but I would love to see her achievement and impact harnessed by the authorities, be they at government or sports council level, to promote her as a role model for young people. 'The numbers of young girls participating in sport are very, very low, with them not even wanting to do PE in school, so it would be great if Katie's success could be tapped into to try to reverse this trend, especially while Katie is still actively involved in sport.'[/private]