Dr Ed Coughlan: GAA would benefit from allowing more players cross their county bounds
Former Kerry star Kieran Donaghy joined the backroom team of Kieran McGeeney’s Armagh, with nothing but people’s support. Should players have the same opportunity, wonders Dr Ed Coughlin? Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
The job of any National Governing Body is to grow their game by creating an environment full of opportunities and minimising barriers for engagement across the lifespan. What this looks like is that when a child starts in a sport, the NGB has structures in place to attend to that person’s needs as they go from childhood to adolescence, and on through to adulthood.
That at no point in time is there a block to them experiencing the sport in a manner that suits their personal situation or endeavour. In other words, if they want to play, they can play, if they want to coach, they can coach, if they want to be involved in administration, they can do that too. And the level at which they want to engage in the sport is limited only by their motivation and ability.
Those who wish to coach in the underage section of their club, should have the same supports as those who wish to coach at the elite level, with efforts to celebrate each equally, as their importance are equitable across the health and wellbeing of a sport.
We know sport means different things to different people. For some, it is a social outlet where they can connect with their friends, for most others it provides them their fitness hit as well as satisfying a love for the game, and for the remaining few it is the place where they push themselves to be all they can be and maybe even fulfill some dreams of sporting glory. We have testimonies from across sports that tell us to win something with their club is far more special than it is at the representative level.
Within the Irish sport landscape, the GAA is the life source of many communities across the country. Even with the rise of rugby in recent decades and the constant presence of soccer, the GAA has adapted as well as any of them to retain people’s interest in their games.
However, since the return of hurling and football in recent weeks, a possible anomaly in the system has appeared. Some of the most fascinating side stories of the opening fortnight’s action have been based around the changes in personnel on the sidelines.
This is nothing new between counties, we only need to look to John Maughan in football and Davy Fitzgerald in hurling as examples of managers moving around the country to share their experience and gain some more in the process. The most recent and high-profile coaching appointment is that of Kerry star Kieran Donaghy joining Kieran McGeeney’s Armagh, with nothing but people’s support for his continued journey in the game.
Such movements generally go from more successful counties to less successful ones. It is no surprise that Kerry accents are more prevalent in football setups and Kilkenny accents in hurling setups around the country. In much the same way in soccer leagues around the world, following Alex Ferguson’s success at Manchester United, the most common accent to be heard from the dugout was a Scottish one.
Inevitably, the drama unfolds when people are paired off against their home county in a match, and depending on whether it’s league or championship, the narrative surrounding the fixture will be either a sidebar or a genuine talking point.
Players can move with relative ease between provinces in rugby and clubs in soccer, both professional sports where contracts and livelihoods are at stake. Surely, in the amateur domain, freedom of movement should be even less of an issue, where player’s engagement in sport should not be limited by the county they are born and raised in.
Not to mention the fact that in so many aspects of Gaelic games there is already such overlap and accommodation. Families have kids in two different clubs, playing the same sports, all because their kids want to go where their friends go, and no one has any problem with it, because the system supports it. Parents can then find themselves coaching in those different clubs, and they’re welcomed with open arms because volunteers are hard to come by these days.
When clubs are in trouble, it is seen as prudent to merge and quickly let former rivalries subside to keep the games alive. Even regions and divisions are created to give better players from lower levels an opportunity to play senior championship.
But as players move through their lives and up through the levels of the GAA, movement becomes ever more problematic. Changing clubs as a senior player has its fair share of red tape. Changing counties almost requires a legal team.
No doubt, the systems were put in place to prevent super clubs and super counties from developing as a result of players moving to piggyback on the silverware gravy train.
But like the coaching and management free-trade agreements, surely something similar can be explored for players. In the way that certain counties, like Kerry, Dublin, Kilkenny, and Cork are a long way from having the need for an outside manager, but the services of people from those four counties alone are often welcomed elsewhere.
Why can’t players who are surplus to requirements in some counties because of larger and deeper playing pools freely move to other counties for possibly guaranteed game time and also a likely boost to the chances of their adopted county actually competing in the championship instead of been early-round fodder for others?
Of course, only a select number of counties who could avail of such player movements, and it is likely only a select few would. But like we’ve seen in track & field already, the viewing public gets to see the best athletes competing more often.
So what if a long-distance runner switches allegiance from Kenya to Qatar? In their homeland, they’re running times that would be national records in most other countries, but because major championships only allow 3-4 athletes to represent each nation, they never get their chance to shine on the big stage.
Think of the boost to Carlow hurling or Wicklow football if a limited numbers of discarded players from Kilkenny or Dublin, respectively, popped over the county bounds and joined their ranks after the annual championship panel cull.
Movement could be limited to crossing over into adjoining counties only and numbers would have to be capped so as not to flood the receiving county.
However, it could be a win-win situation. Weaker counties get to play with better players and squad players from stronger counties get more championship game time. Of course, they’d return to their own county again at the end of the season and a reset button would be pressed at the beginning of the next season.
No doubt something like this would take some getting used to, as so much emphasis is still placed on playing for your county. But elite athletes oftentimes want more opportunities to stretch themselves.
They want to experience bigger days than the geography of their birthplace allows for, and surely sport and those who govern it could look to ways of accommodating those whose vision extends beyond an invisible line in the ground.
