LAST week, I went to a course for first-time principals. It was a bit like a retreat for overworked and underappreciated individuals who can just about see the finishing line in front of them in the shape of the much sought after summer vacation where we hand our little vessels of the holy spirit back to their parents for eight weeks (not two months), while they moan about how many holidays teachers get.
Don’t get me wrong - I like my job and have always liked it. And even in the face of serious cutbacks, increased workload and being tied up with a mountain of paperwork, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.
Normally when I go to these courses, I just leave with an impending sense of doom as to what more has to be added to an already bulging workload. However, this was different. We were spoken to by a principal of 16 years who also teaches and, in her own inimitable way, she was both humorous, refreshing and, probably more importantly, honest.
She stated quite simply that, if we spend our whole time in this vocation looking forward to the summer, then it might be time to get out. And that even in the face of all the continuous hurdles that are put in front of us, we still occupy a very rewarding and fortunate position. Of course, she was right in stating that, if we were not happy, then the right call may be to move elsewhere. The same can be applied to most aspects of our life, including sport.
In our own association, we see more and more high profile players leaving or not joining county panels because they can’t commit or, more worryingly, won’t commit to the once hallowed position of playing for their county. It’s not because they don’t love playing the game, but because they no longer pledge allegiance to the regime.
Joe Brolly went on a personal rant again against ‘Geezer’, which can never be condoned because it is just wrong on so many levels. However, some of what he said and wrote about the direction our game is heading in is worth our attention and the point probably gets lost in his character assassination of Kieran McGeeney and other county managers.
Joe appears to have no filter and, God knows, if we all lived our life with his approach there would be anarchy. As a teacher, I can only say that, if he was in my class, he would be sent on a lot of messages just to give myself and everyone else in the class a break. That said, I have to admit there are certain things about our game I do agree with him on.
Two weeks ago, Derry fielded without Eoin Bradley and, last week, Armagh fielded without Jamie Clarke. This week, the Down team will face Monaghan without Martin Clarke and Caolan Mooney. In that light, four of our star forwards in Ulster, for whatever reason, have decided to walk away from county football.
Depending on which viewpoint you take, you can judge their decision as either lazy or courageous. Probably, the more important question to ask is why they are not part of their county squad. This is certainly not the fault of Kieran McGeeney, Damian Barton or Eamon Burns respectively, who are only fulfilling their job criteria of putting out players who want to play for their county and giving their full commitment and rapidly diminishing sanity to the job. However, the current demands upon a county footballer far exceeds the remit of an amateur sport.
I loved my time playing county football and was afforded the luxury of playing with my club as well. God knows, there were days when I considered quitting, but thankfully they were few and far between. I also would say that I would not be a part of any county squad now given the lifestyle requirements and lack of any genuine enjoyment apart from participation and maybe the slim chance of winning.
Some players are now looking at the bigger picture. They are seeing, that, realistically they don’t stand a chance of winning anything, so they are withdrawing from county squads or going to America to basically live their lives and play football when they want to.
Jamie Clarke gave an honest and frank interview last week about his reasons for not playing and travelling around the world and he doesn’t blame anyone, especially not ‘Geezer’ as he admitted his plan for life is different than most. While he may receive criticism from people with a different mindset, who has the right to say he is wrong?
The word ‘amateur’ has been lost in our county games as we are professional in every sense but remuneration. And as this trend continues, we are going to lose more and more players who realise that the juice is no longer worth the squeeze.
I’m always one for saying to the children in the class to come to me with solutions and not problems. The first solution would be to provide a split Championship that is as valuable to the winners of the lesser grade.
County players have to be released to their club for all matches except in the week of Championship, which will give them the time to actually do what they really crave, which is to play football and not practise drills.
An off-season for inter-county players and limiting their time together to two nights a week is also desirable. Afford them the time to have a social life as well as being able to perform to their best ability in their daily jobs and possibly even allow time for a personal life too.
The cost to county boards would be decreased and players would be more enthusiastic about both playing for their club and county. Even as I am writing this, I realise it will probably never happen. But it did 14 years ago, which is why I loved playing for my county.
Being a county player should still be something to aspire to. Yet we are robbing Peter to pay Paul at times. I have a genuine hope, like most fathers, that my son will some day pull on a county jersey and walk behind a band in Clones - but not to the detriment of his club or his enjoyment of life.
We are only here for a short time and, while football can provide some of the most memorable moments of your life, it should only be one chapter of a large book.
