Did you ever look forward to something in life – like really pin ALL your hopes on it – only for the matter to turn out damp squib at best or heart breaking disaster at worst? How long have you got, because I have a list that could stretch from Dunboyne to Kilmainhamwood and then cut cross country to Ballinabrackey.
Yes some – or maybe a lot – of them are down to what was youthful stupidity on my part, but that doesn’t make them any less upsetting to deal with. Whether that was thinking/expecting/hoping/dreaming that a succession of Meath managers would bring me in as part of their backroom teams. But of course no dice. For reasons I can’t quite understand.
However, and this gives me even less pleasure than the above outlined, that is to say the continuing disappointments of Jarlath Burns’ spell as Uachtarain CLG to date.
So, right, a big part of that is down to having made three attempts to contact Mr Burns to raise my concerns and/or disgust with the putrid state of the disabled viewing ‘facilities’ in Croke Park.
But, regrettably, as time has gone on, the catalogue of disappointments has only grown more extensive. Whether it be interfering in matters pertaining to an individual club, or kow-towing to the naysayers and thereby instigating the culling of the Round Robin element of the All Ireland SFC.
Being led around like a sheep by the GPA/CPA in relation to the dastardly split season. On that very topic, saying that All Ireland Finals cannot go back to August/September because Croke Park is needed for CONCERTS! You couldn’t make this sh** up! Michael Cusack must be spinning in his grave.
It doesn’t end there. Apart from the fact that it is very obvious that An t-Uachtarain made very public utterances regarding one matter in the public domain but has been notably schtum in terms of at least three others.
Mind you, one subject about which there should have been a lot more drums banged about is integration. Bringing all strands of the GAA – Gaelic football, hurling, ladies football, camogie, handball, rounders and Scor under the one roof.
Obviously, that such is not the case is not the fault of Jarlath Burns. It’s just that it was hoped that integration would be at the very least closer by now. Especially in view of the fact that none other than former President Mary McAleese had been approached to guide the process.
To even start down that road, though, each invested party would have to have their own houses in order. Alas, there’s a depressing amount of evidence to prove such is not the case.
Whether that be in the form of fixture chaos between the LGFA and the Camogie Association which nearly villifies the notion of dual players. Or the unseemly mess which blew up into a storm over a skort. Which whipped up to the extent that Cumman Camogiochta Na nGaeil (CA) have been summoned before an Oireachtas (Government) Committee.
The reason? Because the players of Dublin and Kilkenny asserted their displeasure at being FORCED to wear skorts instead of shorts. However, for having the temerity to take the field wearing shorts, both team captains were warned they stood liable to forfeit the fixture if they didn’t revert to their ‘proper’ kit.
The hideous proclamation coming from match referee Ray Kelly of Kildare. Of course, if Ray was thinking straight, he would’ve refused to officiate in solidarity with the players of both sides. Plus, what would he have done if both sides refused to play?
Instead, the whistler chose the guise of the teacher with the classroom full of strong willed youngsters. Unfortunately for him, the village elders got wind of the brouhaha which has resulted in the Camogie Association getting an invitation to Kildare Street.
I would fear that, as was said in this space around this time last year when lady GAA players last made their displeasure known, there is only one form of protest the Brains Trust understand – strike!
Aside from the current strife, though, there is growing evidence that a round table summit – if one was to title it thus – with all the individual ‘arms’ of the GAA involved would be a very good idea.
Because, as well as skorts and seasons, there are other matters which are better addressed now than waiting until they snowball. Specifically, the negative impact the split season is having on Ladies Football in particular.
Simply because attendances at what was once called the fastest growing field sport in the world has seen attendances falling off qucker than Trent Alexander-Arnold’s popularity in Liverpool!
The split season absolutely has had a role to play in that. Simply because, demographics would hold up the view that a large portion of what aided the exponential growth in the popularity of the sport was school children being brought to matches – through links forged between schools and clubs. Thus do their parents and families become involved and so the never ending cycle continues.
Look at that now, though, and it paints a completely different picture. Take next Sunday for example, May 11th, Leinster Final day for our male and lady footballers. A full six weeks before primary school children get their summer holidays. Another six weeks after that, the All Ireland Finals for both lads and ladies will also be done. That still leaves a fair chunk of schools’ out time for other codes to attract new recruits and followers.
Furthermore, with the way the sporting world is now, there seems to be a major tournament in some sport or other every summer. Case in point being the Womens’ Rugby World Cup very shortly. So what are young girls going to be seeing loads of and become more interested in during the summer? Rugby. It’s for that reason that the LGFA and Camogie Association (CA) face the drop off in not only attendances but playing numbers too.
Now, there has been an argument – and perhaps it carries credence – that there can, indeed, be too much of a good thing. In this case, reference is being made to the provincial championships in Ladies Football. Reason being that, by and large, the same four counties tend to win them every year and those who don’t tend to be on the end of some awful pastings. Sound familiar from somewhere else?
I would counter that, as has proven to be the case with our male footballers most recently, if you chip away at the rock face for long enough, eventually a channel will open from which the light can be seen.
It would be further ventured that, as was also often mooted with regard to the men’s game several times, that perhaps playing the provincials at the beginning of the year, when the public have an appetite for something to watch, could paint them in a better light. Anyone who has been hanging around this space for any length of time knows the abhorrence there is in this seat for culling competitions. Even though it seems to be the GPA’s silver bullet for everything.
Then again, even outside of all of the reasoning laid out up above, there are other reasons I would love to see all invested parties in Gaelic games (all of them) sit down for a pow-wow. Some of which have been long held bugbears of mine. And, if you’ve been round here for long enough you’ll be well versed in some of them. But, if they retain relevance they can stand up to repetition.
Firstly, that, contrary to what the religiously devoted might want to believe, hurling is not, in fact, immune to being in need of the odd NCT and minor repairs. In some cases, the changes one would like to see instigated have received airtime here previously – two points for a line ball, a ‘Mark’ for high fielding as with football – surely it’s even more deserved in the small ball code and could be rewarded with a free from your own or the opponents 65 metre line depending on where the catch was executed.
Then, there is absolutely no reason why a Black Card sanction shouldn’t be a clear and present danger to idiocy in hurling the same as it is in football. As things currently stand, the ‘buzz’ foul at the minute is steps and, from a hurling perspective, the handpass.
If the Brains Trust in charge of hurling in the overall sense – say, Willie Maher and the team around him – are genuinely seeking ways to improve hurling, a black card commensurate to that in football has to base camp.
However, there are other things I would love to see trialled too. Like taking puc outs from the ground, frees from the hand and, most especially, the creation of an arc outside the 65m line, with every score hit from outside said mark worth two points.
Time and experience has proven that change can be prompted and brought about, but, to my utmost regret, it now appears we’ll have to hope for better leadership in certain places next time around.
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