SOMEONES THOUGHTS - 03/01/2008
The GAA is the organisation I love to hate. Many times I have been frustrated by the intermittent application of its rules with respect to discipline. Many times I have been perturbed by the presumption of infallibility of many of its over zealous members when refusing a student entry at a reduced rate to grounds or deeming a pitch more important than those who would use it to train and improve their skills. Many things about the GAA frustrate me but one thing has continually drawn me back.
The GAA is my organisation and the organisation of my father. It is the organisation of my community, my parish, my county, my province and my country. It is a voluntary organisation. It has become successful and has sought the services of professionals for many uses to bring forward its amateur aims. These include for the design and construction of new stadiums, the maintenance of existing infrastructure the length and breadth of Ireland such as grass cutting, the administration and delivery of coaching through our schools and the promotion of our games through advertising in the printed media and coverage on television.
The GAA has, I believe, wisely used its substantial resources to direct these operations. However, at its core, when 30 men line out on any given Sunday, for a reserve challenge match between two teams in a junior league division in early March or the All-Ireland Senior Final in late September, they give their all do so for a love of the game, for the love of the game we share.
Many able athletes have been found wanting in their application to the organisation. They now regale us in bars with tales of what could have been. How they commanded the square as full-forward in the Grade 3 all-county final of 1988, and how the ‘man’ they marked that day was now no less than an All-Ireland winner. These people too form part of the GAA but they are not our players. To play our games is an honour bestowed only on those who have earned the right to have it.
To represent your club is the ultimate honour for many, your county the privilege of a few. Many skilled athletes chose other aspects of their lives over that of the furtherance of their sporting careers through the GAA. Indeed many chose other sporting codes in preference. Of those who have chosen to engage in our games, all have done so at their own discretion and without financial incentive. This has brought us to where we are today. I believe strongly that the treatment of players should continue to develop in so far as the facilities they use continue to be developed and that no-one should be out of pocket because of their involvement in the GAA. Our organisation is currently strong and we no longer need a hand out at every turn around. Long may this continue. I fervently believe that we should continue, as we have been, to reward our players, including, but not limited to, our elite athletes with the best facilities and technologies we can offer them. We should give them all we can to further our organisation, but only for the love of the game.
Grants to our county representatives do not further the aims of the GAA. Many club players put in equally arduous efforts to advance themselves and their clubs. They do so for the sense of belonging and to pass on their love of the game. At a basic level the 31st hurler in Kilkenny or footballer in Kerry deserve more than the 30th footballer in Kilkenny or hurler in Kerry. This merely serves to illustrate that the grants do not in fact even do as they purport – reward elite athletes. Currently however those athletes receive much more without any money involved. I implore you to use what influence you may have to develop my case and retain my organisation and the organisation of my father so that some day I may proudly pass it on as the organisation of my son.
WRITER - UNKNOWN