Club players need to be represented as ‘fun’ goes out of game, warns Tony Davis

Former Cork All-Ireland winner Tony Davis has expressed grave concerns about the social, emotional and professional development of young GAA players.

Davis stopped short of calling for a representative body for club players but he believes that county boards all over the country are failing them and must do more to ensure their voices are heard.

Two key motions at GAA Congress last weekend — to cut down on the number of championship replays and moving forward the All-Ireland finals by two weeks — failed to get through and the club calendar, as it stands, looks set to remain congested. And Davis reckons that if senior inter- county players were surveyed, very few, if any, would admit to enjoying what they do.

Davis won two All-Ireland SFC medals with Cork and also claimed All-Ireland Club glory with O’Donovan Rossa in 1993. And in his current role as a garda crime prevention officer, Davis noticed not enough is being done to support club players going through difficult times.

He said: “I come across situations where people need support. I hear it all the time and it’s fantastic that the GPA supports the elite player, and they certainly need support because an awful lot of their self-worth is built around how they play. But the same support should be available for club players. They’re not looked after at all.

“Where’s the support structure for club players or the forum for them to express how they feel? Obviously what they’re saying is going to Congress but then it’s dispensed with.

“County boards aren’t doing such a good job in representing what club players require.

“It needn’t be a structure like the GPA but the voice of the club player needs to be heard. They need to be able to plan their year, have an enjoyable year, love their club and play the games they’ve loved since they were kids. That includes having two or three weeks off during the summer to go on holidays — and that goes for mentors, trainers and referees too. They tried to tighten the year to give the club players more leeway but it didn’t happen.

“What worries me most of all about the whole inter-county and club scene is inter-county is too serious and with the kids, I worry about their social, emotional, and professional development, because it’s a game that’s meant to be enjoyed.

“I wonder if you did a survey of senior inter-county players, do they enjoy it?

“And if I’m a club player, first of all I want it to fit into my life, I want to have regular games, I work so I want to be able to plan my holidays, and I want it to be enjoyable and to have fun. It’s ticking none of those boxes. Why would you train in October, November, December, January when you might play a game in March or April but you might not play again until September?”

Former RTÉ pundit Davis also conceded Cork’s heavy defeat to Roscommon in Sunday’s Allianz Football League Division 1 clash was a “worrying result” — but insisted that Roscommon have the potential to cause problems for any teams.

He said: “To concede 4-25 is a lot — it’s a hurling score. Cork have a lot of work to do but still have the players to do it. And Roscommon have a set of forwards as good as anyone in the country. Roscommon have the type of forward and player that’s playing Sigerson at this time of year, fit and going well. Compare that with Cork and lads like James Loughrey, Eoin Cadogan, and Michael Shields, whose perspective might be a bit longer.

“They’re nearly there but not there yet. Cork hopefully have more to improve as the year goes on but it was a worrying result and would be worrying for the selectors.”