Of course there is always that demographic of the population who would argue against the system because you are deemed to be ‘breaking tradition, the culture and fundamentals of the game’. Their absolutely 100% right in what they are saying. The GAA dates back to 1884 where it was founded in Hayes Hotel, Thurles County Tipperary. The idea of the GAA was to bring people together and there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Hurling, Football, Camogie and Ladies Football all play a unique role in defining what the GAA symbolises and stands for worldwide today.
Unfortunately the only people been affected by this increasing workload is the players themselves. Aspects such as player burnout, mental issues and depression are beginning to creep into the GAA more and more. In recent times high profile players such as Kieran Donaghy, Karl Lacey, Darran O’Sullivan all left their respective occupations in order to train at the highest possible level and in order to spend adequate time with their families and also place a focus on their education. Players should not be put in these horrible situations where they feel the need to pick between their job, or the sport that they cherish. Surely there has to be a better system whereby players can support themselves, their families, their studies and be able to play at the top level at the same time. It is also frightening to see the amount of Inter county stars speaking out about their battle with depression. In recent time’s high profile players such as Wayne Hutchinson (Ex Waterford Senior Hurler), Ashling Thompson (Cork Senior Camogie Captain), Niall McNamee (Offaly Fotballer) and Shane Carthy (Dublin U21 Footballer) all spoke openly about their respective battles with depression.
These stars only account for a small percentage of people within the GAA who have talked about their experiences. We must bear in mind the amount of GAA clubs we have in Ireland and abroad because we as a population never get a real insight into the amount of people actually suffering from this disease. When I hear these people’s stories I begin to lean to the side of where we make the GAA a professional sporting organisation. Although organisations like the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) have been established in order to support players, I think there is a much greater need to provide much more support groups for our athletes. In particular our top Inter county athletes who provide us with such drama, excitement and entertainment for the best part of the year should not have financial, psychological burdens to be worrying about.
However I believe that it is only a matter of time before the GAA adapts a somewhat semi-professional or professional approach. Let’s take a look at all the resistance and conditioning work that is being done with Inter county teams at the moment. In general people don’t see the time that is dedicated to this type of work because it is generally done behind the scenes. This type of work can often start in November or December with the inevitable aim to be still involved up until September. That’s almost 10 or 11 months whereby they incorporate their everyday lives with their respective Inter county commitments. Players are constricted to various diet plans, gym programmes, fitness programmes early on in the year. The quantity of gym and fitness sessions often decrease as the focus then turns to maintenance.
As the year progresses aspects such as diet almost becomes stricter and quantity of field based session’s increases. This aspect of professionalism within the GAA is beginning to seep from the Inter County scene right into the club scene. Personally I find this to be an ever worrying trend. As the years go on, more and more is demanded and expected by GAA players. Standards are constantly rising particularly at the highest level. It is coming to the stage whereby it is impossible for these athletes to compete at the highest level and juggle a full time job at the same time. The point whereby trying to achieving the correct balance, is becoming unsustainable for the top GAA players. I think it is time for the main authorities within the GAA to get realistic about the direction in which the GAA is heading.
It accumulates to roughly €27M, which is an extraordinary amount considering all these games took place over a 6 or 7 week timeframe. We must take into account that the Dublin V’s Mayo All Ireland Football Semi Final went to a replay. At both games Croke Park was at maximum capacity which in return is worth roughly €3.5/4M in ticket revenue alone. Another very encouraging trend came to light in late September when a record 31,083 fans made the trip to GAA Headquarters for the All Ireland Ladies Football Finals. There is no doubt in my mind that these athletes in both Camoige and Ladies Football deserve similar and equal recognition as their male counter parts. They are as dedicated, committed and train as hard and as professional as anyone else within the GAA community. In recent years there have been massive commercial developments within the GAA. In particular the recruitment of Sky Sports who are currently broadcasting a large portion of both GAA hurling and football championship. This is a huge additional income for the GAA, roughly contributing around €10M per annum.
I think because the GAA is being broadcasted worldwide, it is growing in popularity and in return this current deal with Sky is going to grow, evolve and thus the GAA will receive more funding and endorsements in years to come. I am well aware that money received is reinvested within the GAA. This money is necessary in developing grassroots level, club development, maintenance and improvement of all the provincial stadiums. We must bear in mind the huge sponsors who work in accordance with the GAA; Etihad Airways, Centra, Supervalu and Liberty Insurance. Surely some of this money that the GAA receives can be reinvested into the players and allow to them to abide by a pay for play system. By no means am I saying that players start receiving hundreds of thousands per annum. I am doing my best to be realistic here. These high paid salaries would not be sustainable or feasible, but surely with the funding within the GAA players can sufficiently provide for their personal, family and educational needs. There is no way that these athletes can continue training and competing at the highest levels, occupy a full time job or be in full time education and have to be worrying about providing for themselves and their next of kin.
Author: Conor Brophy - 4th year BB (Hons) in Recreation and Sport Management student.