Offaly at the centre of big hurling weekend as GAA faces key issues

With the eagerly-awaited Leinster semi-final between Galway and Kilkenny taking place in O"Connor Park tomorrow evening (Saturday) and with Tullamore hosting the Féile na Gael finals the following day, KEVIN EGAN writes that it won"t be just hurling supporters who"ll be licking their lips at the prospect of all the action going on in Offaly this weekend. He says GAA followers who have any interest in becoming historians of our games will also be keeping a very keen eye on events both within and outside of Offaly. The thousands of young hurlers taking part in Féile na nGael clearly represent the future of the association, while also demonstrating the positive influence that the GAA can be, both in terms of the development of young teenagers and in promoting the ethos that the association is about so much more than the star names. However, a Leinster hurling championship semi-final between Kilkenny and Galway in Tullamore also shows how the GAA is more willing than ever to change their traditions and their methods, sometimes with the right motivation in mind but sometimes by having their hand forced. It"s far too early to say whether or not the move to introduce Galway into the Leinster hurling championship is a positive or a negative one, but there is an argument for saying that it was the quick fix solution to a problem that required deeper surgery. Surely, if Kilkenny were getting too little opposition in Leinster, the obvious solution would have been to make real and meaningful efforts to bring up the standard in Dublin, Wexford, Offaly, Laois and Westmeath, rather than simply airlifting in a high profile opponent for the Cats. Nonetheless, the move has been made and only time will tell if it truly develops hurling in Leinster and in Galway, or whether it"s simply a sop to those who want more high profile TV games in the early season, and another step in the direction of a 'Champions League' format, which appears to be the holy grail of so many commentators on the sport. Historians, too, will also take note that on this historic week, the decision was also taken to either cut back or else eliminate entirely the GPA-driven player grants scheme. Even if the players get a reduced payment in 2009, the issue of the onus falling on the GAA to step in when the government row back entirely will not have gone away, it will simply have gone back into hibernation. Amateur status is a very tricky thing to protect, and it could be argued that the GAA did some things well and some things badly when becoming involved in negotiations with the Government and the GPA last year. Certainly it was a wise move for the GAA to obtain reassurance from the GPA that they will never coming looking for the GAA to make up the money in the event of the government pulling out and, in fairness to GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell, he has re-iterated their stance that they will not be expecting any such contribution from the GAA. However, on the other hand, by acceding to the grants scheme, it could be argued that the GAA has conceded the principle that players can be rewarded monetarily for the efforts, provided the cheque is drawn on other funds. The GPA will be all too aware that the public appetite for tax euros being used to pay inter-county footballers is non-existent at present, while the fiscal deficit and NAMA will probably combine to bankrupt the country before September anyway. But even so, they can now pursue a new line; that their members are disproportionately suffering the effects of the Celtic Tiger flu", and that these grants are a crucial support needed to keep the wolf from the door. Whether inter-county players are suffering any more or less than their counterparts who play Junior B hurling or football, or even young men of a non-sporting inclination, is very much a matter for debate. However, the GAA must be careful not to let too much momentum get behind the idea that the extensive unemployment among inter-county players, which is quite high, is somehow the GAA"s problem, to be addressed using funds earmarked for the day to day running of the association. In order to prevent this idea gathering steam, the GAA should now be looking to take greater control of player welfare issues, utilising their resources and re-establishing themselves as force for social good as well as physical and sporting development. To take the employment issue as the most pressing concern facing a huge sector of the association"s membership; this is an area where the GAA could collectively harness the spirit that each individual club has long displayed. Most GAA members will have either seen first hand or else benefited themselves from the culture of finding a 'start' for new recruits, a particular feature of GAA clubs abroad and urban clubs, but also a regular occurrence in the most rural and small set-ups across Ireland. Most committee members and club benefactors will feel that they are put to the pin of their collar right now trying to look after their own club members, but a national push to try and manage this ethos and deliver results at all levels could yield spectacular results. After all, if a club sponsor is a large business that has an opening for an accountant, then it"s unlikely that any of the lads unemployed in that particular club are qualified to fill such a position. However, just because one club doesn"t have an unemployed accountant in need of work is not to say that another club ten miles down the road doesn"t have just such a person twiddling their thumbs. Traditionally rugby and golf have been the sports best associated with 'networking', but the huge reach of the GAA makes it the ideal organisation to try and create an environment where members, both inter-county and junior B alike, can have access to a database of jobs available, while employers will know that whatever work they have available will be offered to like-minded individuals who have proven their discipline and teamwork skills in a competitive environment. To take this even further, the GAA itself is constantly looking to evolve and develop and as an organisation that improved itself immeasurably throughout generations when Ireland was on her knees, it is clearly qualified to do so again. Infrastructural projects, instruction for minor footballers and hurlers interested in safe and appropriate physical development, creating online tutorials for teachers wishing to teach Gaelic games in schools, countless opportunities are there for those who are willing to look, and think. To take an Offaly example, about 20,000 people will descend on O"Connor Park tomorrow evening, while thousands more will go between O"Connor Park and O"Brien Park on Sunday for the Féile na nGael finals. With so many potential customers coming through the gates, surely the opportunity is there for some potential entrepreneur to sell Offaly GAA merchandise out of a unit under the stand? How many Offaly-branded raincoats would sell if there was a heavy shower of rain twenty minutes before tomorrow"s throw-in? How many supporters would spend €2-€3 on reprinted programmes for the great games that both Kilkenny and Galway have enjoyed against Offaly down the years? The GAA is at a crossroads, and while the joyous occasion that is Féile na nGael gives us an insight into the potential that lies ahead, the likely pitfalls must too be negotiated, using the wide variety of tools at our disposal. Otherwise, the historians could yet record this weekend as a pivotal one in the decline of a once great institution.