No to AFL Compensation for GAA recruitment

While no shock, this morning's headline in the Irish Independent "GAA clubs in line for compensation over AFL recruitment", is still disturbing. What's more alarming is Nicky Brennan's apparent willingness to explore this possibility.

Compensation for what? The young GAA players that the AFL are recruiting are members of the GAA. Look it up Nicky. Membership means participation by choice. The clubs don't own these players. The counties don't own these players. The GAA doesn't own these players. They are playing GAA because they want to. It's a choice. They sign up, they pay a membership subscription (which I might add is very good value when compared to lots of other sports memberships) to play.

While it is hard to stomach, there is not a lot that can be done. Great GAA players like Setanta O hAilpin, Colm Begley and Martin Clarke, who prefer to go to Australia to become professional athletes in a different code, should be free to leave with no "benefits" in return, if they choose to do so. How many young players who play soccer or rugby and Gaelic games have given up Gaelic football or hurling to try to play either of those codes? 

As Martin Breheny points out "Of far more concern to the GAA should be the drop off in the number of youngsters playing the games once they pass minor level". I'd go further. What about making GAA more appealing to a broader audience by cutting out the frequent violence in the game and creating a culture where there is more respect for the referee and for one's opponents? How many young people give up or, indeed, never take up, Gaelic games because of the perceived lack of respect for rules and because of the violence that frequents even underage games?

And what about the players that give up before they reach minor level because they never got a fair chance to play the game? How many kids depart disgruntled because certain mentors choose to ignore their lesser talents, which may develop at a later age but are never given the chance to do so, in pursuit of short-term success. A much sought after U-14 Division III title, for example. It's more widespread than you think. Shouldn't that be more of a concern?

The similarities between Gaelic football and Aussie rules and the age at which these players are recruited, just as they are appearing on the inter-county scene, makes their decision all the harder for the GAA to take. But, it is their decision. The GAA has no 'rights' over a player, unlike in soccer. UEFA have rules for compensating clubs in Europe for each transfer for any player up to the age of 23. That's because players are considered "assets" in a purely financial sense and UEFA wants clubs to have the necessary financial and sporting incentives to invest in training and educating young players. Introducing similar rules in GAA and accepting compensation for players from the AFL would be another huge step towards professionalisation. If the GAA really wants itself to be considered primarily a "sporting and cultural" organisation then the idea of compensation should be dismissed immediately and categorically. 

And that silly International Rules circus should be rejected along with it. 

Why you should oppose the GPA strike - Reason No. 3

Playing for your county is an honour and a privilege. By striking the players are demonstrating that their loyalty is conditional - conditional on reimbursement. Once they fumble in the greasy till there's no turning back. They're soiled, and from now on, it's just a question of how dirty they can get.

Last year, in a little publicised move, England's footballers pledged to donate all of their match fees - win, lose or draw - to charitable causes. It was suggested that playing for their country should be an honour, rather than a pay packet. Every one of the players agreed. Ok, so they are millionaires, but the point is they wanted to demonstrate their commitment, dedication and their loyalty, by breaking the financial link. They wanted to establish a principle.

Dessie Farrell and the Greedy Players' Association want the opposite to happen. They want that link established once and for all. They want to formalise the connection between representing their county and compensation. They suffer from an inferiority complex and lack respect because they don't get financially rewarded for their commitment. Dessie Farrell claims that the players' assertion of their rights in this manner is just another initiative in the history of the GAA which has moved the organisation closer to professionalism. But, paid administrators, paid coaches, paid support staff for teams, corporate boxes, the advent of sponsorship logos on jerseys, ticket prices, hospitality and broadcasting rights have done what paying the players won't do, advanced the game and the oassociation at all levels. How else could the GAA have competed over the last twenty years with other sports and other leisure activities for the interest of Ireland's youth? What Dessie Farrell and the GPA's supporters are too shortsighted to see, or simply don't want to see, is the Pandora's box of pain that paying compensation to players is going to open up. What was good for the GAA as a whole is now only good for a small minority.

In the 1950s, when the Dublin hurling team enjoyed a period of success, there were many complaints that the Dublin team was full of "culchies", who worked with the Civil Service and lived in Dublin. In years to come, when the born and bred Dubs can't get a place in the Dublin teams because of culchie imports, attracted by the bigger crowds and better wages, we'll look back on this point, and wish we could turn the years again.

Why you should oppose the GPA strike - Reason No. 1

In the GAA world there are three major groupings, the players, the elected officers and the supporters. We know where the other two stand on this issue. But, what about the supporters-who after all make up 98% of the GAA? Ordinary clubmen and supporters need to stand up and make their voice heard on the GPA and their ultimate agenda. A lot of people are opposed to the strike but their voice is dissipated across the Internet and barely mentioned by the media. We need to change this by coming together to demonstrate our opposition. I'm trying to take this initiative by announcing a call to action. As a first step Declare for your County by signing the petition.

There are also those out there who say, "Why not? Why shouldn't they get a few bob?" They need to be educated on the Pandora's Box of pain and trouble that paying a grant to the players will open up. I'll try to this over over the coming weeks.

The GPA is a Trojan Horse for pay for play. No amount of denial on their behalf can deny this. The payment of the grant to players will establish a principle that cannot be reversed. It will forevermore form a link between playing for the county and financial compensation. There will be no turning back. From this point on it becomes a question of (a) how much pay? and (b) who pays? Nickey Brennan and the Croke Park officials are right not to get involved in the mechanics of distributing the government grant. It is the government's money therefore, it should be up to the Government to find a mechanism to pay the players. There is no guarantee that the money will be granted every year by the government. In that case the GPA will undoubtedly continue to demand their grant directly from the GAA. They won't care about the source, they'll just want their money. If the GPA get €5m this year, what will they want in two years time? They tell us now that the payment of the grant is an "acknowledgement of their status as inter-county players". Undoubtedly, in a few years they will tell us that €2,500 is too small, that it is an "insult to their status as inter-county players" and that the GAA should come up with more.

How do know this? It's an inevitable process that has already been demonstrated by the short history of the GPA. The GPA agenda has changed considerably since the organisation's foundation. For nearly a decade now the GPA has improved conditions for inter-county players, and fair play to them for doing so-it was needed. When they first started out they increased the measly 12p-a-mile expense allowance and ensured that all players received hot meals after training and received free gear. But increasingly, they have sounded like workers in a sweatshop. They talk of exploitation, the absence of compensation and benefits, poor conditions, denial of rights and emotional humiliation (because they look at the rugby and soccer players and can't help feeling that they are being taken for a ride). Before welfare meant player representation and better conditions. Less than ten years later it now means money in their back pockets. If the GPA's current demands are met, then they will look for more. They are already speaking in those terms. Just this week Donal O'Neill spoke of the GPA getting a percentage of any new television deal negotiated by Croke Park. If this isn't moving the GAA to pay for play, what is? It is clear that their longterm aim is a move towards professionalism in some form or other, and no amount of denying it can hide this fact.