ONE county squad did 12 weekends in-a-row last season. That’s a fact.
Whether it was games or training camps, the players went at it constantly for the best part of three months.
It was their time, their decision, their dedication and it paid off, so well done to them.
Were they the only squad doing that? I seriously doubt it.
What amazing commitment from amateur players.
It’s no wonder you see the partners handing over the babies to county players straight after games. The poor women need a break!
I jest of course.
On a serious note, support from home is essential because when you have a group of men or women on a mission there can be no limits. They’ll push themselves as hard as they can to get an edge on their competitors.
Three weeks’ ago I heard – from someone who knows what he’s talking about and has no reason to make things up - that some counties, including his own, had already started training. It’s an open secret.
Now bear in mind that the official return-to-training date for county squads is December 7.
When the Cavan County Board asked for the reinstatement of the suspended Dr McKenna Cup (a request that will be ruled upon this weekend) the Gaelic Players’ Association (GPA) responded by raising concerns about its members’ welfare.
“If the pre-season competitions are reintroduced on January 2 the return-to-training date would need to be moved from December 7 to November 16,” read a GPA statement.
“Sports science recommends at least a six-week preparation period to ensure that players are physically ready for competitive matches like the McKenna Cup.”
I feel a bit sorry for the GPA because they’re trying to police a town where inhabitants make up their own rules.
The GPA does a lot of great work for players but the return-to-training horse bolted weeks ago.
And you might well ask: Where was the GPA voice last summer when their members were training without a weekend off for months on end?
As for the debate over the pre-season competitions, it strikes me as penny-wise, pound window dressing. The McKenna Cup is a drop in the ocean.
Last year it was wrapped up inside a week for five of the nine counties involved and there was another week between the semi-finals and final. So it’s four games in total if you get to the final.
Last year Armagh fielded their U20s for the first game of the competition against Donegal because they had a challenge match organised against Dublin that night.
County boards get nothing out of challenge games but the bills for physios and food and travel are just the same and we’re talking about not-insubstantial money here.
For an organised, semi-competitive pre-season game, you’ll get a few thousand punters in through the gates and the county boards will make a few quid, but by no means a fortune.
One element that shouldn’t be lost in this debate is that supporters enjoy the pre-season competitions. Don’t they deserve a look at the potential new rules before the League?
Last year I was in Cavan for the start of the McKenna Cup. It was Mickey Harte’s first game with Derry and Raymond Galligan’s first game in charge of the Breffnimen.
The cars rolled in and the stand filled up. The game was played at three-quarter pace and it blew off the cobwebs and whetted everyone’s appetite for the more serious stuff.
Mickey Harte – who always talked sensibly about the merits of the McKenna Cup - was surrounded by reporters in the tunnel at Kingspan Breffni, so it got loads of media coverage.
The crux of the issue is that the GPA’s members may well vote for new regulations but, at the same time, they turn up for training whenever the call comes through.
The GPA’s gripe often seems to be with the GAA hierarchy and the county boards.
Why isn’t it with county managers? Aren’t they calling the shots? Aren’t they responsible for putting the programmes in place and organising games and training, training and more training?
Or is it the players themselves who drive it as they chase their dreams?
They’re all adults and, like the notorious Navy Seals’ induction, if it gets too much all they’ve got to do is ring the bell and walk away.
But they don’t. Not even after 12 weekends on-the-trot.
I’VE never been on stage in my life. Not singing, not dancing, not playing the tin whistle in the Scor. Not even in the primary school Christmas play.
When it comes to that stuff you’ll find me where I tend to be: In the rear with the gear.
But when I heard the club was doing a Lip Sync fundraiser my ears pricked up. A voice inside my head chirped: ‘You’d like that, you could do that…’
I told it to shut up.
Then my brother-in-law decided to get involved. One night my phone rang.
My heart was pounding but I remained calm.
Entering this lip sync thing…
Yeah.
Me and Kevin so far…
Yeah.
Would you be…
That inner voice took over: Aye, sure why not!
BOOM!
What song would we lip sync?
There could be only one.
I spoke to Kevin.
Maybe we could that one, you know: ‘I waaaan it that waaaaay…’
“Aye, you’d love that,” he says.
I was stunned. How could he have known I was a wannabe Back Street Boy?
I said nothing more.
A few days later I told my sister about the exchange.
She just smiled.
Her too!
Eight weeks later, after intense choreography and the purchase of various white outfits and bling, our five-man band is nearly ready to go. All we need now is the tan.
I see people from the nine rival acts out and about and they’ve been working hard too.
Many of them never kicked a ball for the club and have little or no interest in GAA but they have been drawn into this activity. Once again it shows the versatility and positivity the GAA brings and as well as raising money for the club, we’re supporting Marie Curie, a charity that helps so many families.
Yeah, I can feel a groin strain coming on but I’ll be alright, the show must go on.
Now, where were we?
You are my fyyyy-rrrre, the one deee-zi-errrr…
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