GAA sign up for Manager Charters

RELATIONSHIPS between team managers, clubs and county committees will be formalised for the first time in the GAA as a result of the introduction of ‘Manager Charters’ which will come into effect from next season.

Put into rule form at this year’s Congress and outlined to delegates at the weekend in Croke Park, the idea is that the three groupings will be put on a structured basis. In the words of Director General Paraic Duffy, “everyone will know what their rights are and their responsibilities.

“We never had this before in a written contract. This way the rights of the three parties will be recognised.’’

Yesterday, association president Nickey Brennan explained that the charter was merely to assist counties to draft their own documents. Delegates also received a copy of a charter already formulated by the Derry County Board.

“Most of the elements that were in the Croke Park version are included in the Derry charter, but they added a lot of what is more relevant to their own county,’’ he explained. “All we were ever intending to do was to give counties a template. We’re not telling them what to put into it.

“Every county now has to have a charter under rule and they have to be sent back by the end of March.’’

Brennan pointed out that anybody who gets the job of team manager will know what’s expected of him in terms of his relationship with the county board and the clubs. “Equally, managers themselves have requirements enshrined in the charter because they can’t do the job unless it is clearly seen what they are about. It’s a document that’s signed off by the manager and the county board and that can apply right down to any level at under-age.’’

He stressed that the intention was not to ‘get at’ managers, elaborating: “this is to lay out the responsibilities that the county has towards its county scene and its club scene. And it recognises that managers have rights within this to do their job properly.’’

Meanwhile, clubs have been warned of the need for greater vigilance in terms of the insurance implications of permitting their properties to be used by ‘outside groups. “We want to make sure that our clubs are adequately covered from an insurance point of view,” said Brennan.

*Reflecting on the Special Congress, Brennan delighted in the positive response from counties in terms of recommendations aimed at eliminating player burnout. Coupling this gathering with the other Special Congress back in January, he calculated that no more than four proposals were not accepted. “I would have thought that was a spectacular level of success,’’ he commented.

With the January Congress rejecting a proposal to introduce an U19 grade in place of minor and U21 and the idea of replacing the U21 grade with U20 not pursued on Saturday, Brennan accepts that any suggestion of discontinuing with the U21 grade is ‘now dead in the water.’