Gaelic Football in France

Thought I'd share some extracts from a recent piece in the Sunday Times on Gaelic football in France. And it's 110% real GAA all the way...

"...Rennes are one of six gaelic football clubs in this small region of France and every single male playing member are French. It would be a mistake to think that they’re rabble outfits, just playing a different sport for variety or a means for keeping fit; in 2007, Brittany won the Shield competition at the European Gaelic Games Championships.

Although they struggled at the top level in last year’s European Games, the standard in the region is improving all the time and so is the level of competition. Liffre were only founded two years ago and they won last year’s Brittany championship. That domestic championship kicks off again on February 7th, when the first tournament of the season will be held in Vannes. Five tournaments will take place between February and the end of May, where a points system decides who is crowned champions. “The competition is very intense and it is a huge honour to win it,” says Guillaume Kerrien, a founding member of the Nantes football club.

Although there are gaelic football clubs now in every department of the region, they hope to expand the base even more. Lannion and Vannes were only founded last year and they expect a club to be up and running in Lorient before the end of this season. Two other towns have also expressed interest in forming clubs and plans have already been drawn up to form a Breton league.

...

Although the growth of gaelic football in Brittany in such a short time has blown away all convention, the region always had the potential to be a fertile soil for its promotion. Historically, Brittany is a very Celtic region and its people have always been acutely attuned to their Celtic identity. As well as the cultural links through the vast number of twinning relationships enjoyed between towns in Ireland and Brittany, there is also a huge student-exchange culture.

The first GAA club in Brittany was founded in Brest in 1998 by Yann Guenneguez, a Frenchman who had spent some years in Westport. The club in Rennes was set up a year later by Dan McGuigan along with Benoit Jeannin, who is still the club president. Rugby and soccer have a strong presence in the region but Gaelic football has become so popular there now that it was passed last year as a subject choice of the Bach, which is the equivalent of the Irish Leaving Certificate.

Having such a presence within the schools is a massive promotional tool. A network of PE teachers, who play gaelic football, have introduced the game to many of the schools but the crusade was effectively launched by Anne-Marie O’Rourke. From Coolkenno in Wicklow and a member of the Wicklow ladies side which won the 1990 All-Ireland Junior title, O’Rourke is the only Irish member of the Rennes club and is pretty much a one-woman GAA promotional machine.

...

The clubs in Brittany get some assistance from the ECB but their budget, which comes from GAA Central funding, has to stretch over 30 clubs across the whole of mainland Europe. In the last two years, 30 French people have taken GAA foundation level coaching courses and have been trained as GAA instructors, some of which are Bretons. In Rennes on Wednesday, there was a coaching session organised by the Youth Development Officer of the Federation Francaise de Football Gaelique, which effectively governs the game in the region.

Gaelic football is taking root at all levels. INSA, a third level institution in Rennes, have created their own team and they competed in the British Universities Championships last year. INSA also hosted their own gaelic football tournament, which included three British Universities.

Unlike most other Breton clubs, Ar Gwazi Gouez (Rennes) want to be associated with all forms of Irish culture and they are the strongest club in the region. Through intense fundraising and sponsorship, their self-financing potential is far greater than all other Breton clubs. “It is quite hard because we have to fund everything ourselves,” says Nantes’ Guillaume Kerrien. “It’s difficult to get financial help from the town and city councils because the sport is not nationally known or recognised by the head sporting organisations. But we have a pragmatic approach and we help each other.”

The game in Brittany will always have to survive on indigenous talent because it doesn’t have the same pulling power that attracts Irish people to other cities and regions around the world. Brittany is one of the poorest regions in France, with the minimum wage only E1000 a month...

...Sheamus Howlin, Chairman of the Overseas Work Group has attended some games in Brittany and has been “very impressed with the quality of football,” Breton championship matches are officiated by Irish referees based in Paris and every player is well aware of official rules. Even when a beach gaelic football competition was held in Pornichet last year, which featured on the TV programme The Road to Croker, the competition was still organised under the umbrella of the ECB.

The first pioneers of gaelic games in Europe date as far back as 1747, when an Irish Brigade at the Battle of Lafelt, near Maastricht, played hurling matches amongst themselves during breaks in the fighting. But the deep embedding of such a strong GAA culture in Brittany is a first because of its dominant French influence. And given how fast gaelic football is developing there, it’s unknown where it may lead to."

125 birthday wishes for the GAA

The Herald has put together a wish-list, some tongue-in-cheek, for the GAA's 125th anniversary. Here's a few i liked from the list:

26 ...the Lilywhites unilaterally abandon the handpass. (I blame Micko)
30 That GAA officers in power finally start looking at the small picture. (I hope by that they mean the clubs)
35 That Dublin get rid of those ridiculous new jerseys before anyone mistakes them for Man City.
54 That the Meath county board gets rid of that awful accordion/snare drum CD it plays before (and sometimes during) matches in Páirc Tailteann.
60 That Dublin fans are on time every time.
65 That cowboy hats are confiscated from all supporters. Bring back the furry cap, we say! (Before the Leinster Final in 1986 I was promised one if Meath won... )
76 That Fermanagh kick the ball from their own half at least once.
102 That football boots of any colour other than black are banned.
113 That Eamon O'Brien rediscovers that long-lost species - Homo Royal Teak Tough Erectus - that once produced Lyons, Harney, Foley, etc. (They don't make Meathmen like they used to...alas)
119 That GAA club players rediscover that magical experience of playing a championship match with moulded studs on a hard pitch in the middle of summer.

Keep Croker open

Why not? Just for the games when capacity requires it.

Technically, neither the IRFU nor the FAI will require Croke Park once Lansdowne Road is redeveloped but with such a huge capacity differential between the two stadiums there's a clear logic in continuing the current arrangement for major games.

Full article.

Carr says anti-Ulster agenda inspired changes

Ross Carr agrees:

Carr believes that overuse of the handpass leads to scrum-type situations on the field and he stated: "It's the handpass that needs to be looked at. The amount of handpassing is creating the problems and the one thing we can't do is take the physical confrontation out of Gaelic football.

Full story.

All-Ireland fixture change will leave teams facing five games in month

You know what this means for club footballers--if their county progresses in the qualifiers they can kiss playing football in the summer goodbye yet again. Croke Park likes to say it's forcing action on "meaningful programme of games" for club footballers but they don't really mean it. It's just blah, blah for the annual report and strategy documents.

A change to the timing of the All-Ireland football quarter-finals, combined with the return of Division 4 teams to the qualifiers, could leave some counties facing an unprecedented fixtures congestion problem this summer.

A county that progresses from the first round of the qualifiers to the All-Ireland quarter-finals will face five games in a month, between July 4 and the first weekend in August.

Full article.

Cusack's GAA vision just the tonic as reality bites

Martin mentions, but doesn't elaborate, on how exactly "the last 10-15 years undid some of the good" in the GAA. I know where I'd start...

The GAA has been an integral part of an Ireland that has changed beyond recognition over the years. Most of it was for the better, although the less savoury sides of Irish life over the last 10-15 years undid some of the good.

Ireland is now facing a new reality, one where if you believed the pessimists you wouldn't get up in the morning. It's at a time like this that the GAA can play a crucial role in lifting the nation's spirit, just as it has done over many years.

Full article.

Meath v Cork: Not a dirty game and well refereed

Maybe the Meath team of the '80's weren't such a dirty team afterall! What Gaelic football really needs is a rule limiting the number of consecutive handpasses not messing around with yellow cards.

FOR A GAME that gained a reputation for being ill-tempered, both McEnaney and Reilly agreed - while there was a certain amount of niggle - it was far from dirty. Indeed, aside from the aforementioned bookings, half of the starting 30 players emerged without so much as a ticking.

The free count at full-time was 57 - one every 72 seconds. Because frees were all taken from the ground, this slowed the game down a great deal. Every time a foul was committed it would take around 10 seconds at least before the match was under way again.
It's worth bearing in mind that 43 frees were awarded in the 2008 final, but 58 in 2007...

Aside from the disciplinary aspect of the match, there was one glaring difference between the style of football then and now. In the 2008 All-Ireland final, Tyrone and Kerry between them hand-passed the ball 205 times - a quite astonishing tally. Tyrone accounted for 110 of this total, but Kerry, known for a direct style, came not far behind on 95.

Contrast this to 1988, when Meath and Cork used the fisted pass a grand total of 73 times, with Meath - as if to underline their catch-and-kick approach - accounting for just 23 of that total. It's an amazing comparison and an interesting insight into the way the game has changed over the years.

Full article.

Fears allayed as new rules get thumbs-up

Surely it's too early to pass any judgement. Was there still physical contact? If these new rules result in the elimination of physical strength and a good hard shoulder then Gaelic Games will be the poorer for it.

DESPITE the 80 yellow cards that were flashed on the first weekend of the season, GAA officials yesterday declared the introduction of their experimental new disciplinary rules as a great success.

Full story.

GAA must resolve to stop rot of lies and deception

Hear, hear!


The continual refusal of managers and other team officers to admit to players' transgressions, the perceived obstinate stands taken by county boards and other bodies when justice is required to be dispensed and the almost indecent haste with which those who feel they have been 'victimised' have recourse to all manner of appeals and hearings committees is, at best, indicative of intransigence and, at worst, a serious blemish on the image of the GAA as a whole.


Full story.

Coney quits Swans

The traffic is not all one way!

OPPONENTS of the International Rules series were given a major boost last night when Tyrone teenage sensation Kyle Coney confirmed he was turning down a two-year contract with Sydney Swans...

"It was a once in a lifetime offer to travel to Australia and I had to go and see what it was like but the lure of coming back to play for Ardboe and Tyrone was just too much in the end."

Full Story

GAA Paying managers

The Sindo focuses on the GAA "hypocrisy" of failing to acknowledge the industry of paying managers to train club teams. Yes, the GAA's pig-headed refusal to acknowledge the situation is exasperating. Claiming that "All GAA members play and engage in our games as amateurs" is downright laughable. 

But, the Sindo's view that clubs are voluntarily scouring the country to find the best manager to land the county title is in most cases very far from the truth. A lot of the clubs are forced, yes forced, to pay someone to do the job.  When a club contacts 50 ex-players, ex-coaches and ex-managers all from within inside the club, to ask if they are interested in managing the senior team and receives 50 No answers, what the hell else is it to do, but spend its already meagre resources to pay someone to do the job. This is the sad reality the GAA finds itself in today.

GAA Club players

What exactly was  Keith Duggan trying to say about playing club games at this time of the year in the IT on Saturday?

The basic fate of club teams is they train like dogs in the blue cold of January and February and the best two football and hurling teams in Ireland play for their great prize on St Patrick's Day. League promotion and relegation duties are taken care of through the April showers.

Then, the sun comes out in May and the clubs are told to run laps until late September, when it is getting dark and rainy and the glories of the All-Ireland are finished with. It means most clubs worth their salt are training for practically every month of the year and that the truly great club franchises, like Crossmaglen Rangers, can go a full decade without taking a break from training.

What he should of said is that it is a disgrace and shouldn't be allowed to happen.  

GAA Strategic Vision and Action 10 Plan 2009- 2015

"We wanted to make sure that the views of our volunteers would be the main influence when we drew up this plan." 

Páraic Ó Dufaigh, Ard Stiúrthóir

"It was developed by thousands of volunteers. It is the true voice of all our members and their vision for the future."

Criostóir Ó Cuana, Uachtarán Tofa

The methodology is simple. It is based on consulting the membership at all levels and enabling them to develop the plans of the Association for the future.

In 2016 we will be able to say:
“All units at all levels provide a coordinated programme of meaningful games for players, appropriate to their needs and abilities. All games are regulated so that players experience fair play and can take part in well-planned and scheduled games as part of a balanced lifestyle. We have in place a locally effective and efficient, nationally co-ordinated, fixtures planning system.”

Key project: Fixtures planning
Committee: we will appoint a National Fixtures Planning Committee (NFPC).
Three-year plan: We will put in place a three-year rolling National Fixtures Plan.
Fixtures planners: We will recruit and train volunteer fixtures planners at all levels of the Association. They will plan and monitor fixtures plans in all units.

Time to form a Club Players' Association

It may have been tongue-in-cheek but the Sindo's call for a Club Players' Association merits serious consideration. 

"Much energy and ink is expended on the apparent indignities suffered by our unfortunate inter-county footballers and hurlers. But at least they're getting the opportunity to play. Pity the poor clubman, denied games when the pitches are good and forced into wars of attrition on days not fit for man nor beast when the weather can turn the game into a lottery".

Why do the County Board's let this happen? Why do the clubs tolerate this situation?

 

It's almost as if the GAA is conspiring to keep lads sitting around all summer and then drawing the club leagues and championships out as long as possible to keep players away from rugby and soccer. Nah, they surely wouldn't?

Croke Park has acknowledged this as a serious problem. But, as with all problems identified by Croke Park they needed to first write a report, The Club Fixtures Report (no copies available on the 'net). And now, it seems, on the basis of this report they are proposing a Charter to sort things out. Huh, a Charter?

Like some charter outlining the problem and calling on County Boards to make sure players have regular games is going to make a real difference. All we have to do is look at all the UN Charters for proof. Whatever we read in the papers about the threat posed to GAA by the best players opting for Aussie Rules, rugby or soccer, this is where the greatest danger to the future of the GAA lies. Players getting cheesed off because they have to wait until November to play the most important games of the season. What other sports have regular gaps of 3 months between rounds in their championships? 

But, lets be realistic. Nothing will change for the clubs so long as Croke Park, the County Boards and the GPA are the main stakeholders at national level. And the situation for the clubs will only worsen, if, more likely when, the GPA is officially recognised. 

As I've said before the Club Forum is a good start, but it's not enough, the situation of the vast majority of the GAA's members--the clubs and the club players--need a representative to speak and lobby on their behalf. Just look what that's done for the inter-county players. 

Ulster GAA is ahead of the game

Over 400 club volunteers will participate in the second Ulster GAA Club and Community Conference at the Europa Hotel, Belfast tomorrow.

This year’s conference is focused on improving the capacity of clubs and volunteers across the province as the theme of this year’s conference: “Strengthening community cohesion though the development of the GAA clubs and volunteers” underlines.

As part of the consultation process for the new Ulster GAA strategy 2009-2015 a specific part of the conference has been set aside where participants will take part in a one-hour club feedback forum were club officials can make their voice heard on the issues currently facing the GAA in the province of Ulster.

Every province should take note and follow suit.

Revealing Comments from Ó hAilpin

It's depressing to read about Frank Murphy's dictatorship versus the Liberation Player Rebels everyday. It's Séan Óg's turn to have a blast today on Setanta.

What Ó hAilpin's comments ultimately reveal is the growing tension between expectations of the elite players and standards in GAA. The GPA has been beating the GAA over the head with the stick that some administrators (officially) and managers (unofficially) get paid so why shouldn't they receive some financial incentives for their participation too. At the same time they are demanding that the game be run like a professional sport and that the conditions under which they train and play--from facilities, to medical advice, to nutrition etc.--should also be as high as any other professional sport out there. That's fair enough, given the time, effort and commitment they put into the game and the money generated from large attendances at matches.

But, if the GAA wants to protect funding for the majority of the people involved at local level, and rightly refuses to officially pay managers, then where are the mangers with the expertise and experience of a sufficiently high standard to meet the elite players' demands going to come from? Many county boards and clubs refuse to pay (and that's still the case with a lot out there despite the current perception...this is based on my own anecdotal evidence, just like the counter prevailing view) and look internally to appoint the best available.

The problem is that the players have deemed McCarthy "not good enough". That's the spark that has ignited this dispute, although it is now being used to settle a long running grudge between Murphy and the players.

How long before other county panels adopt the same attitude?

Players are the GAA’s crown jewels says GPA chief Farrell

Dessie's not one to let the opportunity for an argument pass by, and no doubt got his buddy and biographer, Potty to help him pen and a swift and acidic response to Paddy Heaney's piece (Time has come for GPA to stop asking for more).

Earlier this year Paraic Duffy pleaded for a better relationship between the GPA and those that do not share the same views, reminding the GPA that it is not helpful for them to "use dismissive or intemperate language towards those who hold a contrary view on player-related issues". That call certainly fell on deaf ears, even though Dessie says, he "tried to temper his response".

Dessie makes it clear that any formal recognition of the GPA will have to involve the GAA bankrolling the players' association so that it can apply for "an expanded package of player welfare services". Dessie's wish list of employment programmes, health services and education initiatives would make Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro proud. One further step on the slippery slope to professionalism.

Except Dessie thinks he can cloak the intention as a guise to protect Gaelic's amateur status. "We can safeguard our amateur status by ensuring we achieve excellence in the area of welfare" Dessie boldly claims. Because if you don't he warns "this has the potential to set us on another collision course with the GAA regarding sponsorship, TV and image rights". That's code for we want control over the money generated from these rights and we will strike if we don't get our way.

Most alarmingly, and this betrays Dessie's true vision for the GAA, he sees the GAA as a "product" which we must make the "best in the market" to compete with other codes.

Lord help us all.

Time has come for GPA to stop asking GAA for more

Paddy Heaney of the Irish News has had enough of Dessie's rants. (The full article is posted on GAAboard.com)

While I don't agree with everything he has to say, he makes some good points. 

If, as Dessie claims, it was all about the elite players--"Without them there is nothing" to quote from his speech at the GPA dinner on Friday-- then as Paddy says, why is the Railway Cup not a roaring success? Fair point.

And while Paddy acknowledges that the GAA hasn't always treated players so well, he explains how Alan Simpson, the Linfield goalkeeping coach, who was part of Ross Carr's backroom team for Down, was "overwhelmed by how well Down's county footballers were treated and hugely impressed by the way no expense was spared in meeting their needs". This echoes Babs Keating's comments that the Tipperary squad of 2007 weren't "left for anything" with the County Board spending €870,000--that's a lot of money--training teams with no success to show for it. 

And that's the part Dessie doesn't mention. He focuses on the empty part of the glass all the time. 

The GAA currently allocates nearly 50% of its income on expenses that are directly related to inter-county teams: 14%  on match and competition costs; 18% payments to counties (we know from the comments above how most of that is spent); and 14% on player welfare. (Source is GAA Annual Report 2008) 

Dessie states that the GAA is going to have to fund the GPA--and pay Dessie's salary!

If the GAA, ultimately, does end up having to fund the GPA then another part of the Association is going to have to pay--that will mean a reduction in funding for facilities, or funding for coaching and games development. 

Then the real losers will be the clubs and volunteers who work so hard to train and coach future generations of inter-county players.

Europe's GAA season ends

The final tournament of the European Gaelic Football season was played in Maastricht last Saturday. Belgium GAA won the tournament and secured the European championship. 

The Irish Times had a great feature on growing interest in Gaelic games in Asia last Saturday. As in Asia there's a great social dimension to involvement in GAA in Europe, but that shouldn't take away from the high standard of football played and the commitment of those involved. Traveling to The Hague, Maastricht, Munich, Paris, Rennes and Budapest to play GAA may sound a little glamorous (the GAA glamorous!), but it also takes a lot of time and can be quite costly for those playing.

A big "well done" to Belgium for their victory and to all those involved in European GAA in 2008. 

GAA can't compete, shouldn't try to compete

Who's the Irish Independent journalist writing under the alias "the.couch@hotmail.com"? Any ideas?

He seems to be implying today that as long as GAA remains amateur it won't be able to compete for young talent with Aussie Rules, soccer or rugby.  

And how exactly does "the.couch" think Gaelic could "compete" as a career choice if it did become professional? 

The GAA will never be able to match the earnings or marketing exposure of these professional sports. Surely, if GAA did become professional then those talented enough to choose whether to continue playing Gaelic for a few grand or to play one of the other sports professionally for pots of filthy lucre are then going to make their choice based on financial considerations. Soccer players, for one, are not known for their loyalty in choosing clubs over money.  

So how would the GAA be any better off than it is now?