GAA alienating the grassroots

I see that Sean Moran today is wondering if the GAA HQ is in danger of alienating the grassroots. He asks if the GAA has run too far ahead of its membership in streamlining everything from revenue generation to the commercial exploitation of Croke Park.

Yes would be my answer, but thanks to the Irish Times' backward subscription model I can't read the rest of the article and don't know of anywhere close by that I can buy a copy of the "Protestant rag" as Frank McCourt's mother referred to it (I live abroad, you see). I'll try over on GAAboard.ie, hopefully someone has copied it to there to generate a discussion.

It's terrible that 2008 has seen the emergence of the term "grassroots" to describe the majority of GAA members. Before there was no distinction among GAA members, nor a need to distinguish between them, but since the "grants" fiasco and the GAA HQs money-hungry approach which has created difficulties for the local GAA we are seeing the term used more and more frequently. It's a sad sign of the times and the direction the GAA is taking.

The GAA to go "Green"

At last. A GAA headline that we can get excited about.

The GAA and ESB have announced a major environmental initiative-Cúl Green-aimed to make Croke Park a carbon-free stadium.

It's great to see the GAA taking the lead and raising awareness. For once they are ahead of the game!

Maybe they could do like Manchester City and install a wind turbine that supplys energy to the stadium and to thousands of nearby homes. Sustainable energy, a significant contribution to tackling to global warming and a means of buying-off the objections of the Croke Park Residents Association!

An Spailpin v. Martin Breheny. No contest

Read An Spailpin's preface to the 2008 Championship and then read Martin Breheny's piece on the same subject.

I hope that you, like me, will be watching the GAA An Spailpin describes this summer, not craving for the Sky Sports version that Martin Breheny would prefer to see created.

GAA Money from Opening Croke Park

Although GAA HQ will not divulge how much money they are giving to Antrim GAA to build their GAA centre of excellence at least it is a sign that the they are delivering on their promise to the grassroots.

Of course, this news is not exciting enough for the Indo or the Irish Times so it was left to BBC Sport Gaelic Games to report it.

It does make one wonder, however, why GAA HQ cannot publish the sum of money they are contributing and make a bit of noise over their contributions to such projects. It's an opportunity missed to generate postive coverage and show what the GAA, unlike soccer, rugby etc. does with its money.

The GAA and the Six O'Clock News Effect

Tommy Lyons. What can I say about Tommy Lyons? Not a lot, except that his 'best before' date is usually about one and half years after taking over a football team. By that time the relationship between Tommy and the team has usually decayed and is no longer healthy. 

His comments about the suspensions dished out to Dublin and Meath, however, merit some attention. Lyons believes the GAA were very heavy handed. Rightly, so I believe (before you holler in protest I'm from Meath so there's no bias in my opinion)--it's time to stamp out violence in GAA, in whatever form it manifests--tussle, scuffle, shemozzle or brawl-- once and for all.

Lyons reckons the only reason why the Association reacted so forcefully was because of the prominence the incident received on RTE. "I've always said make the six o'clock news in the GAA and you have a problem," Lyons stated. "Whether it's Semple-gate or Parnell-gate or whatever other gate you want. Make the six o'clock news and you are in trouble and it's as simple as that".

Tommy's definitely on to something. Dublin and Meath were made an example of, although Armagh and Cork players had a tussle of their own that went unpunished. Same day, same competition, same sport, pretty much the same incident. But, not the same penalties dished out. Apparently, a Dublin supporter made his displeasure with this injustice clear to Nicky Brennan in Parc Tailteann last Saturday, with a banner which showed the two incidents in a photographic montage and posed the question -- "Spot the Difference?"

Tackling discipline in the GAA cannot just be a-seen-to-be-taking-action show for the national media because the cameras were turned on. It's got to be consistent and across the board--intercounty, club, junior, underage, wherever it rears its ugly head. There are enough officials -- one referee, two linesmen, and four umpires--to capture the majority of what occurs on and off the ball to make it possible.  

The fascination of football (soccer)

The GAA may have its problems, but at least, as Kevin Myers reminded us this week, we don't have to loathe ourselves for our interest in Gaelic games. Boggers, culchies, whatever we may be, we don't feel sordid or seamy because of our fascination with the GAA. 

Kevin Myers: "I despise the entire modern obsession with soccer, with its flash, overpaid, oafish stars, and their brainless shopaholic molls; and, worst of all, their cretinous tribes of supporters. And that's the real measure of the power of soccer in modern culture. Even the unwilling are drawn to take sides. We cannot resist experiencing powerful feelings over contests in which we logically should have no emotional or intellectual interest." 

What struck me is how Myers' opinion of modern football resonates with Michel Platini's. Remember him? Socks rolled down to his ankles, shirt untucked, almost ambling about the pitch--the antithesis of today's athletic, brylcreem-sponsored, diamond-studded footballers. 

Platini's irreverent style on the pitch has now been transformed, as President of UEFA, into displeasure for what he considers the perversion of football. There's something wrong, he says, with modern football's relationship with money and he wants to change that. Platini knows that football will not survive if it continues with its commercial indulgence and extravagance at the expense of the grassroots. Platini wants to salvage "the game" and "let the fascination of sport prevail over the fascination for money". 

There's not much razzle dazzle in GAA. There's no fraud. Nobody feels compelled to watch it. And the GAA is all the better for it.

GAA Clubs need a Voice

Some think that Of One Belief lost at Congress, others believe the GAA did. No matter.

No, wait! Before you depart, I'm not going to get into grants, or expenses, or whatever we should call it.

Of One Belief may be no more, but their brief existence taught us an important lesson. Although vilified and pillorised by some, with Martin Breheny leading the lynch mob, Mark Conway and Of One Belief were a critical counterbalance to the money-driven and elitist GPA in the "grants" "debate".

Without Of One Belief there was no other point of view than the GPA's. Croke Park and the GAA hierarchy were easily cowed by the GPA threats and did their utmost to whisper through an agreement with them. Nicky and the suits certainly made no effort to inform the GAA members of the details of the agreement and what the potential consequences were. wasn't until Of One Belief was formed that some semblance of a debate began and the pro's and con's of the agreement were properly aired. 

Now that the GPA have got what they wanted they have firmly established themselves as an important and acknowledged constituency within the GAA, the next step will be to recognise them as the inter-county (always important to make that distinction) players official union. Talks to do so are already under way. Not before its time, some would say, and that's a fair point. 

Official recognition will give the GPA a place at the top table and an even greater influence on the future direction of the GAA. Ordinary GAA members, in contrast, who make up the vast majority of the GAA's numbers, are increasingly disenfranchised from GAA decision-making. The GAA prides itself on being a democratic organisation, but the clubs are too far removed from decision-making at Congress and Central Council to have any real say. With the exception of the "important questions" like the Ban, Rule 42 etc., the clubs are not consulted on the running of the GAA and have little, if no, impact. The Club Forum is a good start, but it's not enough.

With the GPA's emergence as a force in GAA decision-making we can expect that the frequency of occasions when what's good for the GPA is not necessarily good for the rest of the association to increase. The problem is that there will be no voice for the majority of the GAA's members to put their point of view across. If the media wants a quote it needs someone to go to. Without a spokesperson or focal point for the majority of the GAA's members the GPA will once again have free reign in the national media for their bullyboy tactics.

But, the clubs don't have direct representation, despite desperately needing it. There's a whole range of problems, from fixtures (some go weeks and even months without matches during the summer freeze) to volunteering, which are neglected because Croke Park and the County Boards' give more weighting to the inter-county scene. 

The weight of representation is against the clubs. With so many diverse interests in the game the GAA cannot continue to speak for them all. That needs to change.