Professionalism in the G.A.A.

[Buswhacker]

Andy Ward is reported as advocating professionalism in the G.A.A. He reckons that if players are training etc. like professionals at the top end of the sport,they should be paid like professionals. He could have a point.

[Milltown Row2]

Been to any games at Casement recently? no crowds no real big sponsorship and no money!!! What will we pay them?

Answers on the back of a second class stamp please

[oisinog]

MR2 a big problem within GAA is they do not promote our games enough. We need more cross community involvment in the north.

If they were to go professional the rugby set up is perfect to follow

[lonely1]

Andy couldn't get a role in his own code that some fools we going to pay his going rate, so my advice is Andy stay the fck out! Clubs are struggling, club players the "Backbone" of our association are struggling and he wants more reddies! We have far too many paid "Coaches" at the minute doing sweet FA, the funding would be better used at a local level to help the kids etc etc, or we will soon find we have nothing for the future. We are now fully in the expense culture and soon that bubble has to burst, we just can't sustain it.

[lonely1]

Two tier system Oisinog, take a look at the clubs in belfast that have had to merge, played it long enough to know it doesn't benefit the grass roots, the Methodist team that just won the schools cup has already lost 4 of the winning side, and that's schools rugby!

[imtommygunn]

As MR says how would we have the resources do pay them much anyway? Attendances etc not great in antrim.

Then where do you draw the line with clubs / counties etc. Rugby you can transfer - what do you do with transfers? Why should one county player get more than another? Is it up to county boards to manage wages?

Cross community is all well and good - we need more of "our own" community!

Professionalism would be the ruination of the GAA in my view. It would be a nightmare to manage.

[Buswhacker]

If we want to save money,why don't we sell off some of the many under used club grounds,that are costing a fortune to maintain
I would like to know the cost of paying for and keeping these places going.Clubs could surely share facilities in many cases,I can think of a few.

[oisinog]

I used rugby as a basis as all the wages for Irish players are paid by the irfu.

The players playing at intercounty level would be paid and keep the club game amature and allow the professionals to play for both club and county.

If it was going to work within the GAA central council would have to pay the players as all gate money goes to them anyway. As the central council would be paying the players wages they can cap the wages to prevent players from moving from county to county looking for more money.

I would prefer to keep the amature status but It is possible to set up a professional system that can work.

Its a good debate to bring up if the sport was to go professional how would you like it managed

[imtommygunn]

I would prefer to keep the amature status but It is possible to set up a professional system that can work.

I personally don't think it is. While rugby could be considered a "template" for turning professional it's really the international and provincial games that generate the crux of the revenue. It is these players who get paid. You try to transfer that to the GAA model than it's July /August where the guts of your revenue will be generated. Take our own county for example - it's not that often we're at the end of the championship so where do we get the money or how then do central council etc distribute it?

Rugby's international and inter provincial nature lend itself to being professional. We have none of that.

Antrim would in general have 4 home league games, either code, and then x championship games with x being a lot less than any of us would like generally! That's nto great in terms of revenue potential. Yes sponsorship etc would help that however you get better sponsorship for going further and thus success breeds success from a financial viewpoint.

Sell underused club grounds? Who pays for the club grounds buswhacker? Some clubs who have grounds of county standard (and thus delegated county grounds) may get some money however clubs own their own grounds and they maintain them themselves. Which ones are underused as well? (Maybe it's the ones which don't play division 1 ) That's not in any way a viable option.

[oisinog]

There would have to be a major restructure of the league and championship to allow the game to go professional.

If it is possible you would need at least a 12 team league home and away played over a longer period.

[Milltown Row2]

Under used club grounds??? Are you mental? Come down to Milltown Row any day ya like and see how under used it is 'shakes head'

[Buswhacker]

What type of game is "shakes head".

[AhJaysusRef]

Aside from the logistics of how it would be administered, do you think that players should be paid?

I would estimate that inter county athletes  sacrifice at least 20 hours per week for their sport. This time is taken up by matches, trainings, gym sessions, physio appointments, travelling, rehabilitation, sourcing and preparing the right food & supplements, preparing equipment, mentally preparing.

Such a large amount of used time impacts other factors in their lives -

less time with their partners & children,
disruption with their jobs from having to work through lunch & leave early, being tired from a heavy session the day before & lack of concentration all of which leads to slower career progession
disjointed study time for students
mental stress from not performing well
criticism from less informed and ignorant supporters
falling out of most other social circles (this is important because players can be cast aside when their career is over)
difficulty maintaining friendships with non-gaa friends
no time to enjoy other things - music, relaxing, travel, weekends, nights out, nights in, quality food & drink,
managers instilling a tunnel-vision which leads to under-developed social skills

There is no doubt that being an inter county player carries a lot of benefits and perks. Some guys would say that they had the best times and experienced the most euphoric feelings of their lives playing gaa. However when their career is over it can be hard to recreate these highs.

I feel that the amount of sacrifices they make greatly outweighs the benefits receive.

Surely this is worth some form of retainer, no matter how small?

[Arthur_Friend]

I'm sure each individual can judge for themselves whether the sacrifice is worth it.

[Last Man]

Andy Ward is reported as advocating professionalism in the G.A.A. He reckons that if players are training etc. like professionals at the top end of the sport,they should be paid like professionals. He could have a point.

Yes because he's thinking about what he can get out of it ffs. Rugby players with an Ulster contract NEVER play for their clubs, that's good isn't....wouldn't be much point putting men on the gate to lift money for a Dunloy.L'geil,C'dall,St.Galls( ) game.
It costs me hundreds of pounds/ year to coach and play a wee bit in our club in fact in a few of the recent years alot more and i wouldn't begrudge a penny of it.
So yous are after an army of paid administrators and coaching staff, 100 salaried hurlers and footballers (with monthly photo shoots in the Ulster Tatler), a few extra beer tents and gourmet burger vans at Casement, increased ticket prices...................Aye that would be great.........................ANTRIM ANTRIM ANTRIM ANTRIM