The club player puts his whole life on hold for the summer and doesn’t know exactly when his next match will be. Is this fair? A lot of people will have their opinions but personally I feel it’s not fair on the club player.
In most areas around the country the GAA clubs will have a team meeting in January/ February outlining the plan for the coming season and how things will be different from the year just gone. In my experience, the expectations are usually high within the group and everyone is looking forward to a good year ahead.
The meeting begins with a reflection on the season just gone and what needs to be improved on if we are to have any hope in winning titles this year. A few senior players who are no strangers to these meetings stand up and say a few inspirational words to get everyone in the mood for the training sessions to come. The meeting comes to an end with sheets been handed out on when our training and gym sessions will be on for the next 2 months. This will be our year….
However, there is nothing the football manager can do so he just carries on with the players who can attend the sessions and waits his time till the soccer and rugby seasons are over. While these lads are finishing there seasons, the club footballer is putting in fierce work to make sure he is as fit as the lads that have to come back into the squad and is doing gym sessions to improve his overall strength and balance for the year.
It is now the 1st of April and for the first time this season everyone is at training and getting stuck in. At the end of the session the manager tells the squad that the first game of the County Championship is at the end of the month so challenge matches will be coming up and each player should be doing an extra bit in the gym or sprints. Everyone is excited for the first county game to come around. A few of the club players have been training away in the county set up as well so the moral in the camp is good and the manager is happy with the way the sessions are going.
Knowing that some of the players are training with the county, the club player knows he has to put in countless hours in the gym and on the field doing extra sprints. These extra sessions are done behind the eyes of the rest of the group, in the cold and dark nights when everyone else is off sitting in front of their warm fires. The belief in the club players mind is ‘this is what it takes to win a county title’.
It’s now the middle of May and the second county game is quickly approaching. After the last game the lads with the county have been training hard and have picked up injuries so the game will be harder to win this time around. The game doesn’t go well and they lose by 3 points. Everyone is feeling down after the game but the manager adds salt to the wound by saying if we had the county player’s things would have been different. This makes the club player feel worthless and he begins to question if all this sacrifice is worth it.
June is just around the corner and this is when the life of a GAA club footballer becomes really frustrating. No fixtures have been released so nobody knows what way training is going to be for the next few weeks. The county team is going well in the championship and are now in the Munster semi-final. This has a knock on effect with the club training as the county lads aren’t around to train so numbers are down at training and intensity has dropped.
The club player is still expected to show the hunger and drive in training even though no one knows when the next outing will be. It’s very hard to consistently train at the same level and intensity when you know there’s no game coming up so the club player will be thinking what’s the point in pushing myself at training if it’s not going to matter.
It’s between these two months (June/ July) that training really slackens off and the interest isn’t like it was in the months on (May/April). With the not knowing of when the next game will be the manager puts a drinking ban in place as he knows the club players will be attending social gatherings as it is the middle of summer so lads will be itching to go for drinks. This is simply crazy to expect. A club player needs to have a social life as well like it is easily forgotten that the GAA is an amateur organisation not professional.
Extra gym sessions and sprints are once again expected from the club player as the manager wants them keeping fit over these months. The county team lost in the Munster Final but still have a chance in the All-Ireland championship through the ‘back door’ system. This has had a knock on effect to the club scene as matches have been put off for another week.
This is very frustrating to club players as yet another match has been postponed and some clubs had payed flights for a member of their team to come back from abroad to play in the match. This is just another example on why the life of a club player can be very frustrating as it seems the county players get preference every time and no one cares for the ordinary club man.
It’s August and suddenly the realisation that a build-up of games is going to occur and players are going to be asked to play week day and weekend matches. The county board has their weekly meeting on a Monday and a fixture list is sent out to all clubs involved. Panic immediately sets in as a group text is sent out saying we have two matches in the next 10 days. One been the divisional semi-final and the other been the last game in the group stage of the county. The club player has to drop everything and zone straight into the task ahead which will be to win these two matches.
Isn’t it amazing what a win can do for the mentality of a club player and the squad? They win the final group game easily and suddenly there is a feeling that this could be our year for a county title. In the dressing room some of the players say how important the next few weeks will be as we look forward to a county quarter final.
The draw is made and the team is drawn against one of the best teams around. For the club player this is what all the training in the muck and rain has been for. To show that he is finally ready for the big stage. The game doesn’t go as planned though and for the club player his season has ended in heartbreak and disappointment. The dressing room after the game is quite and not a lot is been said.
With the banging of the boots, players heads down and jerseys thrown anywhere in the changing room the manager steps forward and says his last speech for the year. He thanks everyone for giving it all throughout the season and if this group sticks together then can achieve anything.
All in all life is tough for the club player. Whether it be putting their lives on hold for numerous months of the year, juggle work, training and family time, train extra hard when no one else sees it just to make sure you are at peak fitness or hoping that the county players don’t come back into the team and take their place right away. Who says been a club player is easy eh?
Author: James Hogan
4th Year BB (Hons) in Recreation and Sport Management Student