Kelly backs junior club championship

SEÁN KELLY, who takes over the presidency of the GAA in five months’ time, has come out in support of an All-Ireland club championship for junior teams.

He was speaking in Dublin yesterday after he had formally launched the AIB Club of the Year scheme, now in its third year, and with trebled funding amounting to over 100,000. And, at a general level, he warned of the dire consequences for the Association of neglecting club activity in favour of increased inter-county games.

Under the prize funding agreed for the next 12 months, each county winner will receive 2,000, with provincial winners receiving 5,000 and the overall winner netting an additional 10,000. It means that total prize money for the AIB Club of the Year will amount to 17,000.

The bank's close involvement with the GAA was stressed by Ark Life managing director Billy Finn, who pointed out that the focus has always been on the clubs and the development of the sport at local level. "The Club of the Year scheme is perfectly timed to give recognition to what is going on within clubs and we believe it is tangible evidence of our commitment to the communities in which the clubs are operating,'' he commented.

Mr Kelly expressed the view that the status of the club championships had been enhanced to the stage where they were now regarded more as a national affairs. This in turn had helped to enormously increase the focus on clubs in general. "I would like to see that continue and I would like in particular to see an All-Ireland junior club championship introduced. As well as that, there are increasing opportunities to have more involvement from overseas units. There are tremendous clubs all over the globe and while they might not be good enough to play in the senior club championship, certainly at junior level a lot of them would be well able to hold their own.''

Alluding to fears that clubs were being sidelined to a certain extent because of the increased activity at inter-county level, Mr Kelly said it would be fatal to allow this happen. "An association like ours, with little international dimension other than the very successful series with Australia and to a lesser extent the link with shinty, means that its strength has continuously come and will always come from the clubs.

"If we neglect the clubs it won't be long until the effects would be seen at inter-county level. "The clubs are essential to us and during my presidency that will be a major focus. A scheme like this is a wonderful asset and I think the challenges of today are huge for our clubs. First of all, as outlined by the Strategic Review Committee, there is an onus on us to supply at least 20 games for our clubs players. Also we have to ensure that our juveniles have plenty of activity, not three or four games thrown into one period during the summer but throughout the year."