COVID-19 has gifted us an entire lexicon of terms and phrases that didn’t seem to exist prior to January.
Social distancing, cocooning, self-isolating, lockdown, R-rate, super-spreaders and PPE were words and phrases barely uttered before Christmas yet are among the most used terms since.
Then of late we had the ‘social bubble’ concept.
Now this idea should be one easily understood by many within the world of GAA.
Back in my county days, my world literally revolved around the team.
Form lines, injuries, making the team, being subbed and everything in between felt like an issue of real importance not just to me or those fellow team-mates within the bubble but, in my head, to everyone outside as well.
It was only when I exited the group that I realised the strange reality lived within.
I remember speaking to ex-team-mates still within the bubble, and it was strange to see how clearly the mind-set of the group held court in their thinking.
It was often quite detached from the reality that most people could see outside of it.
From a team point of view, especially one that has its sights set on achieving things, I can see the benefit and, to an extent, the necessity, of this.
The downside is the ignorance of reality outside the bubble.
It’s not just an issue with the county game either.
Life within our clubs is often a similar bubble like existence.
I come from a football-mad club in a football-mad county.
Myself, my family, my wife’s family and the majority of my friends are up to their neck in terms of their links with respective clubs.
Within this bubble it is very easy to feel that community life revolves around the club and, within it, we are acutely aware of the mammoth amount of positive work going on behind the scenes.
This ‘unseen work’ is often felt to be our greatest strength and makes the GAA club a real asset to its local community.
COVID, in stripping us of our normal routine and duties, essentially popped the bubble within which we lived.
The club gates were locked. Committee tables lay abandoned and quiet.
That rarest known of natural species, goal-mouth grass, even began to flourish.
So what happened to the people when the thing they revolved their life around disappeared?
Well, they got to work.
Across the country, that community ethos was released from club duty and into their actual community.
That might sound a strange statement but it’s true.
For me and many others like me, we assume that everyone in an area is aware of the club and it’s work.
Yet this may be ignoring the reality.
Outside of the bubble, in these same communities, life for others proceeds completely detached, unaffected and even unaware of the work going on at the local club.
Working in Craigavon hospital I had seen and heard a few things regarding work being done by the local Tir Na nOg club.
It was typical of the work being carried out right across the country by GAA clubs during the pandemic and the lockdown it induced.
Yet it wasn’t until I got chatting to a work colleague and friend who is from the area, that the bubble thing was brought home to me.
He would be a ‘relaxed’ follower of all things GAA but it was his surprise at the level of club activity and its impact during the past few months that struck me.
It was very clear that this was a talking point amongst local people not directly involved with the club.
The extent of the clubs efforts and positive impact at every level of the community made more than a few sit up and take notice.
In fairness Tir Na nOg seemed to go above and beyond.
Virtual Scors as part of a weekly entertainment slot which incorporated a talent show as well, a school around the corner for younger children, an over 50's dance competition, a food drive linking with other local community groups and a charity walk where funds were raised for St Vincent de Paul, Pips, Craigavon Area Hospital and the local parish were just some of the events in a seemingly relentless activity level.
The key thing though was the level of outreach achieved.
Activities weren’t just about club members but rather opened up to the entire local community.
That was where eyes were truly opened and new wells of good will created.
More than once I’ve heard people say that they knew there was a club, but they had no idea it was so strong or active nor realised that so many of their acquaintances were linked to it.
Of course, for any of us involved in clubs we are only too aware of this hidden army of community activism.
It’s the essence of our clubs, coming together in good times and bad.
Yet we are all too guilty of staying within our bubbles and being insular in our clubs.
The lesson from COVID, and there have been many, is that, we must strive to be visible outside of the white lines of the pitches and gates of the club.
For too many people within the communities we live, the unseen work, which is almost a symbol of the GAA, is representative of an unseen club.
COVID, in shutting down our usual activities and channelling the community ethos out into the very communities from which it comes, has burst the bubble and garnered much positivity.
It is a positivity that can be harnessed as clubs continue their moves into every aspect of community life and away from the insular social bubbles of old.
