McEvoy's passing puts on field matters in perspective

Last weekend was a week of harsh lessons in Offaly GAA circles. The Offaly senior hurlers learned quite how much of a gap they have to bridge this summer when they were dismantled by the Kilkenny hurlers in Clara. Offaly's minor footballers learned a harsh lesson about championship football and the importance of reacting better to unexpected crises, after goals at the start of each half essentially scuppered their chance of advancement against Meath. Neutral supporters looking at the senior club championship learned that Rhode and Clara are still some way clear of the chasing pack after they both defied the absence of key players to record facile wins, while only Tullamore and Edenderry really performed even moderately well from the chasing pack. Both those clubs have a lot of work to do after they each showed some strength but also significant weaknesses in their drawn game. Young teams from Ferbane (senior) and Cappincur (intermediate) were pitched as dark horses for their respective championships, but both of those teams were taken apart and their players and managers will find that they'll have to learn fast or else face into a grim summer. Above all, GAA people all over the county learned about how unimportant results truly are when they heard of the tragic death of Kieran McEvoy, the well-liked and widely-respected stalwart from the Gracefield club who continued to play football and hurling for his club up to and including this year, some 21 years after his senior debut. All over the midlands this week people were paying tribute to Kieran the family man and Kieran the GAA man, as the sense of loss was palpable no matter where you went. McEvoy's commitment to serving his club in whatever capacity required, be it senior or junior, crucial championship clash or inconsequential league fixture, never dimmed and at a time when so many clubs are struggling to field teams, he was a shining example of how the simple gift of presence can keep a club going. Of course it helps if those players present are blessed with the kind of touch and craft that Kieran possessed, but at the moment so many clubs are in retrenchment, and that's sad to see at a time when people need the GAA to play a bigger, not smaller, part in their community. Clubs currently have two primary goals - results on the field, and financial stability off it. Some would say that it was always this way, and always will be the same. After all, the latter is crucial for survival, and the former is what drives clubs to survive in the first place. However, the same people that are emigrating from Irish shores in search of work - those players that so many clubs find so hard to replace - will be just as badly missed when the gaps start appearing at committee level in the years to come. Consequently, this is at a time when clubs need more and more bodies to share the workload. Any successful club will always have a good group of people keeping things afloat in the background, but among the aspects of Irish life that have left these shores along with so many of the Celtic Tiger cubs is the ability to pick up a relatively easy job, either in the employ of the state or else with a large private concern. The days of people working from nine to five and having the flexibility to leave during the day if necessary are no longer. Instead people work their eight hours a day, but the flexibility is on the other side - they have to have the ability to go over and above for their employer, to either work late into the evening, start much earlier in the morning or even to be available at weekends. In a cut-throat job market, the ability to "commit" to the kind of voluntary effort that was once no less arduous but much more compatible has simply disappeared for many people. Those who do stick with it often make great professional sacrifices to do so. Where once the GAA opened doors in the world of work, now it's just as likely to close them as GAA members suffer by comparison to their counterparts who have no such ties or commitments. It's great to have expertise, it's great to have sponsorship, it's wonderful to have talented players and it's great to have hard working committee men and women, but above all, clubs need people. Playing is still the primary way of getting people involved in the GAA as a social association and clubs need to think long and hard before taking the decision to scale back their number of teams, or scaling back their football or hurling activity. It takes no effort to provide games and field teams full of enthusiastic players if those players present themselves, but if that enthusiasm isn't present, there needs to be a real and meaningful effort to generate it, even if it requires a rethink to allow people to become involved while still retaining the focus on other aspects of their lives. At a time when supporting Offaly continues to be a largely fruitless labour of love, some would note the irony in supporters pointing out that there's more to the GAA than results. However, if we can't be aware of this after a weekend like that which has just passed, then there is no hope for us.