SO WHAT is the biggest issue for club players at present?
My take is that club players feel, and have done for quite some time, that they have reached a point where they are no longer prepared to accept structures that give no certainty about or regularity of matches.
They are passionate about their sport but would love to be in a position to enjoy life in the real world while still being afforded the opportunity of regular, competitive football every year.
Before a ball is kicked in the inter-county season, every fixture and eventuality (bar some replays) is detailed in black and white for all in sundry to study. Is the simple request of the same for club players too much to ask?
Of course, every county has its own issues; playing populations, dual players and successful county teams can all hinder the best laid plans, but are counties really putting the majority of players at the top of their priority list?
Club players in Armagh received a full fixture list for all league, regional and club championship fixtures before the league began in March. Not one of our games failed to take place on the designated date, but this is far from the norm nationwide.
Other counties could do worse than looking at the Armagh template. How could you condense the inter-county season to free up weekends for club activities? Without going into too much radical detail like removing competitions, how about removing extra-time in drawn Championship games, or bringing the All-Ireland finals forward by two weeks.
Two simple but effective ideas, a starting point for real change. But this is the bit that confuses me. These were proposal made by the GAA director-general Páraic Duffy, but rejected by county delegates at Congress earlier this year.
So if the director-general is proposing solutions, and clubs everywhere want change too, why isn’t it happening? It’s easy to put the blame on the powers that be at Croke Park, but they have no part to play in each county’s internal fixture lists.
Counties began exiting the All-Ireland on June 18 yet by the end of September Down and Kilkenny were the only two counties to have completed their senior football championships.
If the inter-county calendar takes too long to complete, the same can be said for the majority of our internal club competitions. Each county executive puts forward delegates to attend Congress with a mandate to vote on topics following their own annual convention.
Since each club is represented at their county convention, the power should emanate from local level. Why they haven’t used it remains a mystery. Are we doing enough as club players to express our feelings on a local level where we may actually carry some influence, or are we waiting on someone else to do it for us?
We all have the solutions but do we really want to put our hands up to help set about meaningful change? Do players even attend their club AGM to voice their opinion? In most cases, I’d highly doubt it.
It’s no different in my own club. You could count on one hand the amount of players who attended last year’s AGM. It’s clear everyone wants change but there are not many who are willing to put in the time to bring about the change. Everyone is too busy.
Through the newly-formed Club Players’ Association, movement has begun in order to gain feedback from every county across Ireland to detail the different issues faced by club players.
Without the engagement of club players the association will fall by the wayside before it gets started. If people really want change now is the time to support the cause. Club AGMs will be happening across the country over the next few months.
Will you sit at home and talk about what needs to be done or will you attend to be sure you have your say on who represents you at county board level? This is not an ‘us and them’ situation.
Our Association is a victim of its own success in that it affords players the opportunity to represent a litany of teams across dual codes and no player wants to let down any manager or team-mate.
We are all GAA people. We all want to see our Association flourish on all fronts. But at the minute this is not happening, so each party will have to concede some ground in order for a new playing calendar to be devised.
For the greater good of our Association it is vital this happens. The idea that it’s unfair to expect club players to play in winter doesn’t wash with me - with the exception of December which I feel should be a closed month for all GAA activity - I was always happy to give it my all for club or county.
I bet if you attend a training session in Maghery, Kilcoo, Killyclogher or Slaughtneil this week you’ll not see too many men unhappy about having to leave a cosy fire at home for a few hours.
Year after year, the club championships attract large numbers and throw up compelling contests and this weekend will be no different. The moral of the story is that nothing will change unless clubs take charge of their own destiny.
It is time clubs everywhere use their power to make decisions which suit them and their players. There is too much change needed for this to happen overnight, but with genuine backing from those who claim to want it most, this will happen eventually because club members consider it the right thing to do.
The CPA, once it gets up and running, can help push the agenda but ultimately it will take a grassroots movement to drive change through. It has reached a stage where clubs need to make a choice - either take control or stop complaining.
