GAELIC GAMES:THE GAELIC Players Association is to conduct a survey of its membership in order to establish attitudes and policy towards the GAA close season. Now in its third year, the dispensation that prohibits collective intercounty activity in November and December has been criticised by some managers as too restrictive.
Introduced on the recommendation of the GAA’s burnout task force, the close season requires county players to train without supervision until January when the pre-season begins. According to GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell, there was no clear consensus on the matter when it arose at the association’s recent agm.
“It’s a topical issue and we discussed it in November but nothing concrete emerged. There are definitely problems with the close season as it is implemented. The sense I had of the debate was while everyone supports the theory of it, there’s no consensus on what basis it should operate so we weren’t in a position to be prescriptive about it. We decided rather than pass a vague motion it would be better to research the views of the membership and come back with a consolidated view.”
One of the most recurrent disagreements with the close season has been the widely varying times at which players and teams exit the championship. Only two teams in football and hurling survive into September and only 12 into August. It’s been a particular bugbear for newly-appointed managers, who are anxious to meet players and conduct some collective training before the end of the year. Those reservations, according to Farrell, found an echo in the views of players at the agm. There was also a view less worthy motives than eliminating burnout lay behind the shutting down of November and December.
“Some struggled to see the sense in the close season. There’s frustration that when teams are ready to get up and running, they can’t do it. Different players have different views so it makes sense to conduct a survey so we can come to some sort of position on the issue. Some players see the idea as an attempt by county boards not to pay expenses for two months and there is disgruntlement that players have been asked by managers to train on their own time and a belief the whole thing comes down to penny pinching.”
Whereas the GPA have been supportive of the measures to address burnout, there is a feeling amongst the association membership that burnout critically affects comparatively few intercounty players. “There is also a strong view,” says Farrell, “that the problem of burnout is not as applicable to the majority of senior players as it is to younger ones. It’s far more of a problem for those playing at under-age and in colleges.”
The survey of players will take place between now and the end of the year and the responses collated with a view to bringing forward a proposal in good time for next year. “Canvassing opinions needs a bit of preparation if you’re going to get an accurate picture so we’ll have to draft the questionnaire carefully to make sure of the quality of the feedback.”
Farrell also denied there was any significance in the amount of time it was taking the GPA to conclude a final agreement with Croke Park as part of the merger announced last year. Work has been ongoing to update the interim agreement and the finished document was expected to be presented at last weekend’s Central Council meeting. “No,” said Farrell, “there’s no issue holding things up . . . a permanent agreement is more complex than the interim agreement we arrived at last year and needs a bit more time. It will be ready in the new year.”
A Croke Park source endorsed Farrell’s view, saying the remaining work would involve only “the dotting of ‘i’s and crossing of ‘t’s”. The document is expected to be ready for discussion at February’s Central Council meeting having been circulated to the counties well in advance.
