They shovelled snow off fields so they could train, travelled hours on subways to make sessions, and their manager looked on with pride as a group of 40 players cleared the decks of their daily lives for the chance to play championship football.
This Sunday evening, (8pm Irish time) New York finally get their chance when they meet Mayo in the Connacht SFC quarter-final at Gaelic Park.
Once again, many of the squad are homegrown and, significantly, there remains a healthy link in personnel to last year’s panel.
New manager Alan O’Mara says he doesn’t know what Sunday’s game will bring but he does know how much effort his men have put in. And that reassures him.
"How proud I am of the work that this New York team has done this year, that’s the first thing I have to mention," O’Mara, the former Cavan goalkeeper said.
"Our challenges and our schedule are like no other. Our players have to be very self-motivating because it is not always glamorous. But the work they have put in has been phenomenal and now the Mayo game is around the corner.
"That game is obviously going to be a huge challenge but the way I see it is that it’s also a huge opportunity for us to go toe to toe with one of the best teams in the country. And that’s a brilliant
opportunity to get. In my view, we go for it and then reflect on it and it’s a match I am very excited for."
O’Mara says that if the panel had a dollar for every time the players have been told they have no hope, they’d be a wealthy bunch.
"There is no shortage of people who tell you that we don't have a chance, but we know what we are trying to achieve and now we get an opportunity to prove it to ourselves. We compete hard as a group and we enjoy pushing each other on so that’s what we work towards.
"Inter-county football is important to the lads and the GAA plays a huge part in our lives. That makes our lives happier and healthier, just to have the GAA in them.
"Last year’s win [a historic first championship success, after penalties against Leitrim] was a big achievement but this is a new season and there is a new team coming to town, so we have to prove
ourselves.
"There is always turnover, but thankfully the core of this squad has stayed together. and I am really excited about the players who have come in."
"If New York wants a third or a fourth game this season, be it in the championship or the Tailteann Cup, then we have to earn that"
O’Mara says it takes courage from his players to commit to the New York team.
"Lives are demanding, schedules are too, and sometimes over here companies are not always accommodating in terms of players getting off work early to train.
"But Sunday is the first game of our season. We are guaranteed two games [they would enter the Tailteann Cup at the preliminary quarter-final stage].
"And if New York wants a third or a fourth game this season, be it in the championship or the Tailteann Cup, then we have to earn that."
O'Mara is a member of the Westmeath NY club and has Tyrone man and former New York player Ronan McGinley alongside him as coach.
Jeff Farrell, David McNamara and Dean O'Donnell are selectors and goalkeeper Mick Cunningham is their player development coach. Sean Kelly looks after their S&C whilst physio Sinead Burns has experience working with NFL and NBA athletes.
O'Mara, as well as being a former intercounty footballer and author, is also a mental performance and well-being coach, and host of the Real Talks and Players Voice podcasts.
He has taken the reins after a period when huge emphasis was placed on producing homegrown players through development squads and player pathways.
This development has been hugely significant. Up to 2019, which was New York’s 21st year in championship football, the turnover of players was enormous, with 60% only playing one competitive match.
More alarmingly, from 1999 to 2019 only 11 native New Yorkers featured in championship football. Around a decade ago, however, they changed their emphasis.
Now, development begins with a kindergarten for football, hurling, ladies football and camogie and a pathway continues to Under-7 upwards. They have college, U17 and (three) Féile sides, and sent various teams to Ireland last year.
Emerging players are nurtured through competition at juvenile level along with third-level trips to Ireland.
In September 2020, St Barnabas GAA club achieved a remarkable feat by defeating a heavyweight Sligo team in the New York Senior Football Championship final with a line-up composed solely of American-born players.
And last year, they beat Kilkenny in the All-Ireland Junior football final at Croke Park in Dublin. Every one of these players was born and bred in New York and came through the minor system there.
At senior level the shift has been similar. In 2019, there were six 'home-grown’ players on the squad and up to 2022 that number was roughly the same. But last season, four homegrown players featured against Leitrim whilst there were 12 in total on the panel.
"The work that has been ongoing behind the scenes is phenomenal," O'Mara added. "It would make you so proud and it really motivates all of us to do our best for New York this Sunday."
Follow a live blog on New York v Mayo in the Connacht Football Championship on Sunday from 8pm on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Highlights on The Sunday Game, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, 9.30pm
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