Inter-county managers urged to give college players a break

The chairman of the Higher Education GAA Council believes inter-county managers should not impose too many demands on college players while the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cups are in progress.

Both inter-varsity competitions get under way today, two of 17 championships run by the council in a compacted five-week period. In a bid to aid the fight against burnout, Raymond O’Brien would prefer that senior inter-county players who are in college would be allowed to focus on their college teams during this time.

“I read an article recently in a Sunday paper which was blaming colleges for burnout,” he said, “but I think that that’s a total fallacy. Barring one or two exceptions, colleges generally only get to train once a week. That’s about all they can manage as players are being dragged left, right and centre because of their other commitments.