Clubbed to death

TODAY, for your perusal, a letter I received recently from a club player.

‘Hi Diarmuid, I’m writing to you in relation to the state of club hurling and football in Cork, and with what I feel is a real fall in interest in playing and coaching by players and clubmen these days. I’m home from travelling and working abroad almost a year and a half now and I’m very worried about what I am seeing around the county. I was away for about three years and shortly before I left I was speaking to a member of my own club, Ballinora, about things that were wrong with our own club and with the systems in which we play (leagues, Cups, championships etc). He was a prominent member of the club and was involved at county board level and said plans were afoot to change things; on my return I can only surmise that things are painfully worse.

I am pretty involved in the club and last year I ended up training the club’s top intermediate team (I’m a qualified coach and I have a sports and business degree). I gave it my best shot and did as professional a job as possible (with no money whatsoever) and we scraped out one championship win.