Are the days of the American university track scholarship behind us now? And could that turn out to be good news for Irish athletics?

Off the Ball hosted a panel of some of Ireland’s best known voices in athletics, from past and present, to look into that question.

Sonia O’Sullivan spoke with Ger Gilroy over the phone about her time at Villanova, telling Ger how important her time at the U.S. university was to her development, before Eamonn Coghlan, Ian O’Riordan and David McCarthy joined Ger in studio to carry on the discussion.

Coghlan followed in the footsteps of Ronnie Delaney to take a scholarship at Villanova, before going on to win world championship gold in the 1500 metres. O’Riordan, now an Irish Times athletics writer, studied and trained at Brown University and McCarthy, winner of the bronze at the 5000m in the European U-23 championships and currently on a scholarship at Providence Rhode Island.

Marcus O’Sullivan, three time world indoor champion middle distance runner and currently head coach of cross country and track and field at Villanova.

Listen to the full athletics chat with the player below or download on iTunes