Moran calls for Minor and U21 championships to be scrapped

SCRAP the minor and Under-21 championships - that’s the considered view of new Mayo manager Mickey Moran, who believes that the abandonment of these competitions would help to prolong the inter-county careers of a lot of players.

Moran, who has had two spells in charge of Derry and was also involved with Sligo and Donegal, makes this radical call in an interview in Seamus McRory’s book, ‘The All-Ireland Dream,’ and argues that they could be replaced by a new Under-19 championship.

He also believes that all third-level competitions should be confined to the first term before Christmas.

“If these proposals of mine were introduced, they would alleviate the recurring problem of so many young players being answerable to so many different managers at the same time,’’ he states. “More importantly, they would help considerably to reduce the stress or ‘burn-out’ factor that is the greatest single problem facing our young players today.’’

On the broader front, Moran feels that regular meetings in advance of the championship season between team managements, players, referees and administrators would lead to a better understanding of the rules. And, once the season gets under way any difficulties ‘real or imagined’ could be addressed in follow-up meetings.

“At present, there is not enough communication between the people who really matter, i.e., management, players and referees. The whole process should be overseen in a structured manner by Croke Park.’’

Top referees Dickie Murphy and John Bannon - also interviewed for the book - both agree that such a process would be extremely beneficial. “We believe there should be three well-structured meetings each year. At the start of the year there should be a ‘get-together’; of managers, players, administrators and referees and all issues pertaining to the implication of the rules should be on the agenda,’’ they state. “Then, a proper report on the decisions taken should be circulated to all parties.”

They would also favour further round-the-table discussion once the provincial championships have concluded and about a month before the All-Ireland finals.

Rather than inviting the different parties to such meetings, they should be compelled to attend, they say, admitting that arrangements have been ‘haphazard.’

The end result would be that there would be less confusion and a more harmonious relationship between all parities.

In regard to recruitment of referees, Murphy says that the biggest problem is the amount of ‘shocking verbal abuse’ from parents in games as low as under-12! Bannon goes further, stating that at county level the recruitment system leaves a lot to be desired. One solution would be the establishment of a specialist refereeing department in Croke Park.

John Bannon also has strong views on the assessment process, singling out two particular areas of concern.

On the one hand, while he agrees that the present group of assessors are dedicated, most of them were involved when he first started out as a referee 15 years ago.

Secondly, he questions the accuracy of assessments, explaining: “recently I read one startling statistic. Out of a sample group of 70 assessments, 25 were rated as good, 45 were evaluated very good and none received a fair or poor mark.

“No referee wants to receive a bad report, but it beggars belief to really think that there were no bad performances.

“In my opinion, that is symbolic of a GAA mentality which implies that you never criticise your own.”

Bannon calls for an urgent re-evaluation of the hand-pass in Gaelic football, saying that it’s over-use and abuse is severely curtailing the basic skill of kicking.