Donegal footballers are clearly facing the challenge that Irish athletics has for many years. The use of financial inducements to encourage players to go to the United States for the summer recently angered county board chairman John McConnell. "There seems to be a concerted effort from clubs in North America to poach players from the county," he said last week. Looking back over Ireland's athletic past, Ronnie Delany, Eamonn Coghlan, Ray Flynn, Marcus O'Sullivan, Frank O'Meara, Sonia O'Sullivan, Susan Smith-Walsh and Mark Carroll all crossed the Atlantic on scholarships. In recent years the tide seems to have slowed down with better coaching and facilities now available in Ireland. Given the fracas over the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) and Croke Park, this problem may take time to work out. Athletics began to solve the problem by providing a home-based alternative to what players were getting in the United States. But where would that leave the GAA and their attitude towards professionalism?