Diarmuid O’Flynn produces his hurling wish list for the 2010 season
1 An end to the annual panel versus management civil war. I understand those who would say that this should be about hurling matters only, but I’m heartily sick of it all, and I’m not alone. There are those out there who think that all this is just grist to the mill for those of us who have to report on it – well, whoever coined that most stupid of expressions, ‘paper never refused ink’, should be shot.
Making repeated phone calls to people you know don’t want to be contacted is no fun, neither is there any pleasure in late-night trips to various county board meetings, with the accompanying last-minute deadline reporting and the constant repeating of the same old story.
That’s only a minor irritation however. The bigger picture is the damage that’s being done to hurling, the negative vibes given off, the removal of whatever county is currently in dispute from the league equation – and probably from championship consideration also – in an already small pool.
The bottom line here is that those who are charged with looking after the game in the various counties, the county boards, should stop paying lip service to the concept of respect for players and start paying them some genuine and positive attention.
If a conflict situation arises, address it immediately, fairly and decisively – don’t let it drag on, and on, and on, dragging everything down with it.
2 A levelling off in the various championships, but in the MacCarthy Cup particularly, with every team competitive. That means a return to the top for the likes of Offaly and Clare, a real return to form for the likes of Cork, Waterford, with Galway and Tipperary to maintain their progress. If any of the latter four go on to win the All-Ireland, or if a wild-card should emerge from the pack a la Clare in 1995, then happy days, but if Kilkenny do succeed in pulling off an unprecedented (for the GAA) five-in-a-row, then I can’t say I’ll be unhappy either. How often do you get to see history being made? Additionally, they are a credit to hurling, always have been.
3 The GAA to finally see the light and start really marketing hurling for what it is, the finest team sporting spectacle anywhere on the planet. That hurling is a confined sport, played only in Ireland, is not a valid argument against. How many of us follow sports we’ve never played, be it at home or in various other countries? This game deserves a wider audience, and must be sold to a wider audience. You don’t do that with pay-per-view, you do it by getting hurling onto the popular free channels, be they regular channels or sport channels, you do it be having presenters who are enthusiastic about the game, who know the game, and who can explain the game, and you do it by getting the viewers to become involved with the various teams – adopt a county, if you have no connection of your own. It can be done, is being done with other sports worldwide for years.
4 The GAA to grasp the nettle that is the current crazy fixture structure and schedule, at club and county level, and standardise things across the board. I can’t see much change being made to the current inter-county structure, now that Antrim and Galway are in Leinster, but there are major problems at club level. For a start, counties should be mandated to continue playing club games across the summer with the current dictatorial powers that pertain in too many counties removed from managers. Further, and still on the club scene, an end to the lop-sided provincial competitions and a partially-seeded open draw (all the big guns on one side is no good to anyone). I’d also like to se the finals of all grades to be played off in the calendar year, thus giving a real break to the likes of Henry Shefflin, Joe Canning and the O’Connor twins.
5 A practical recognition by the Government that hurling isn’t just any old sport, but that it’s an integral part of who we are and contributes hugely to Irish society. That practical recognition should be financial; between helmets, hurleys and balls, hurling is an expensive sport. In the current straitened financial circumstances, it is probably too much to ask that all such VAT be rescinded or refunded but at underage level at least, where so much good work in furtherance of the physical well-being of children generally is done by the GAA this should be done.
Full-time GAA coaches for schools and underage could also be funded by the Government, thus creating jobs while easing the burden on the GAA.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, February 20, 2010
