Griffin: Athletes need help from GPA-style body

Olympic walker Colin Griffin believes Irish athletes need some kind of representative body similar to the GPA (Gaelic Players’ Association).

Griffin, who has taken a year’s sabbatical from his sport to expand his altitude training business, has been impressed by how the body representing inter-county hurlers and footballers has provided a range of services for its members and believes something similar is needed for those in Irish athletics and most Olympic sports.

And although the 31-year-old Leitrim athlete acknowledges some of the support services offered by the Institute of Sport in terms of career development and life after competing, he believes there needs to be greater support that’s not just athlete-centred but athlete-led.

“I think athletes collectively need a voice along the lines of the GPA and IRUPA (Irish Rugby Union Players’ Association). If you talk to a lot of athletes they’ve often felt isolated and exposed and having to fend for themselves,” says Griffin in tomorrow’s Irish Examiner Sport Big Interview.

“At the moment athletes are just commodities. If you have one or two bad years you can go off the radar and be neglected. Then your career could be over at 30 and there’s nothing there to actually help you regarding advice on finance or career development and so on. Mental health is another area in high performance sport that hasn’t been looked at properly.

“I think the Institute are doing a good job in providing some services in these areas and their frontline staff is as good as there is but it’s not within their compass to do all of this. Athletes need some kind of collective voice.”

Just last month Griffin announced he was putting his athletic career on pause after a difficult year. A good part of the season was taken up with him fighting to appeal the initial decision of Athletics Ireland high performance director Kevin Ankrom that he should not receive any Sports Council funding for that season, even though Griffin had qualified for the Olympics just the previous year.

And that experience is another reason why he believes a GPA-like body for athletes is required.

“You can get sucked in to so many battles outside the track such as selection or funding with no one else able to represent you and energy that you should be putting into your preparation and performance is being consumed elsewhere,” he said.

Griffin will continue coaching, including the hugely promising Laura Reynolds who finished in the top 20 in the women’s 20k at the London Olympics.