Jerry Kiernan has a shot at GAA players/fitness levels

[Bingo]

I didn't hear this last night but seen some twitter activity last night about it. Basically saying they don't deserve their grants.

http://www.thescore.ie/jerry-kiernan-critical-gaa-players-scheme-payment-796487-Feb2013/

FORMER IRISH ATHLETE Jerry Kiernan believes GAA players do not train hard enough to warrant grants.

It was announced yesterday that the Irish Sports Council and the GAA were renewing their agreement for the next two years meaning €900,000 will be made available for inter-county players to receive payments of around €400-per-year.

Kiernan, who represented Ireland in the marathon at the 1984 Olympics Games and regularly appears as an athletics analyst on RTE Sport, is opposed to the scheme, however – suggesting there is too much emphasis put on the GAA.

Speaking on Off The Ball last night, Kiernan said: "I think that the GAA are the richest sporting organisation in the country and should be well able to look after themselves.

I watch some of the games occasionally but I don't particularly like the GAA. I don't like football in particular. I don't think there's much to it, but I watched bits of the national league games over the weekend and what struck me was how unfit players were.
"An athlete I coach, Joe Sweeney, training 120 mile-a-week for the last six months, ran a 30km road race in Holland last weekend and won the race. There was no mention of it on the national airwaves.

"We're giving so much prominence to a sport that I feel doesn't deserve it."

Kiernan added that the commitment to training made by athletes in other sports is not matched by those participating at inter-county level in football and hurling.

"I don't have a high opinion of their fitness or their commitment to fitness. I understand that it means an awful lot to people in the country and from an economic point of view when you've got thousands of people going to the games it means a lot to the country.

"If this money, and it's only a small amount, wasn't given to them, would it dilute the attendances at the championships? I don't think so."

I believe that the GAA people live in a cloistered world, don't think beyond what they do and they tell themselves that they're training hard.
"I always notice as well when they're commenting on things they often talk about the sacrifices they make. You'll never hear that among athletes, boxers, swimmers or people who do international running."

"If there is a finite amount of money involved I would only give it to people who are competing internationally."

[Orior]

Get you hair cut Jerry

[thewobbler]

It's good of Jerry Kiernan to be so objective in his thinking.

Over a million Irish people care about who wins the AI final. Nobody apart from Jerry Kiernan cares about a made up distance race in Holland.

[deiseach]

Where's James Nolan when you need him?

[Canalman]

Heard him alright. Fair to say he doesn't like us very much and referred to "de Gaaaaaaah" all the time. In fairness Eoin McDevitt stood up for the GAA more so than Jamesie O'Connor who seemed to me stuck in the headlights.
Very good radio by the way.


Probably some griping in athletics about their funding and the GAA players are the  targets.

Also said his dad (from Clare) was only in Croke Park the once( when Clare won the All Ireland .)

Had a go at some Kerry players on the basis of a photo of them leaving the pitch after the Donegal game last year.

Well worth a  listen on the newstalk playback.

[deiseach]

I presume international competitors receive enough to train full-time? If so, it's a bit cheeky to be comparing their fitness levels to amateurs.

[JHume]

Kiernan isn't altogether wrong.

Far too much emphasis on the sacrifices made by intercounty players who get their expenses, gear, food and now these grants. And that's not to mention the certain status that comes from the high profile of the games.

Many club athletes in other sports (not just athletics) put longer hours into their sport than intercounty players, without the fringe benefits GAA players enjoy.

Non-GAA athletes correctly view their participation in sport as a hobby.

The GPA created an environment where players were encouraged to view their efforts as work for which they should be compensated and a sense of perspective was lost.

(I don't mind watching athletics on the TV, and Jerry Kiernan mightn't agree, but there isn't a whole lot to a sport where men run round and round a track.)

[Shamrock Shore]

I got cross listening to the Mullet on Off The Ball last night.

The GAH.

My Dad was only in Croke Park once

The GAH players moaning about sacrifice. They don't know what sacrifice is compared to athletes etc........

[Zulu]

I didn't hear Off the Ball but I will try to catch up to get a proper context to his comments but from what I know it seems, while he has a point, he has an issue with the GAA and this is colouring his view. I have great time athletes and to see what some people put in for little reward or recognition is hugely admirable but you can be sure they would be complaining as much as GAA players and referencing their sacrifices if they were bringing in the kind of crowds GAA players do. Athletes and swimmers can't really do that as not enough people really care. I'd love to see athletes and swimmers get more support and I can understand why other sports people may be a bit miffed to see funding going to a sport organisation that could meet that need themselves but GAA players certainly make serious sacrifices and are very fit for the sport they play so throwing cheap digs will do little for Jerry's position.

[deiseach]

Non-GAA athletes correctly view their participation in sport as a hobby.

Except when they're competing internationally, when they effectively become public sector workers.

[Bord na Mona man]

You can shovel all the money you want into the typical Irish athlete and train them twice as hard if it helps.
Most of them will never be anywhere near contention for silverware on the Olympic or World Championship stage. Even juicing them to Lance Armstrong levels probably wouldn't change that.

There isn't a particular demand from the public to go watch them either. I have never heard of the Santry track being a sell out for an athletics event. So in a lot of cases the taxpayer is funding a person's hobby with these grants. Which I have no particular issue with, all matter of non-essential things get lottery funding.

With GAA funding, there is a cultural aspect to it, the public demand is strong and also the economy makes a decent wedge off the back of the GAA. If the government decided to cut the grants to GAA players, I would have no great issue with it though.

Kiernan is a fool and was only a cross country slogger anyway!

[Rossfan]

Non-GAA athletes correctly view their participation in sport as a hobby.

Except when they're competing internationally, when they effectively become public sector workers.

+1.
I wonder what Katy Taylor and all the other Olympic participants do for a day job 

[deiseach]

You can shovel all the money you want into the typical Irish athlete and train them twice as hard if it helps.
Most of them will never be anywhere near contention for silverware on the Olympic or World Championship stage. Even juicing them to Lance Armstrong levels probably wouldn't change that.

Indeed. Kiernan himself made the point during the Olympics that the Kenyans have destroyed middle distance running in Europe because, well, who wants to aspire to compete in a sport where you have to take on the likes of David Rudisha? Doesn't stop the endless cycle of bleating about funding of elite athletes though - in the national interest, of course.

[Bingo]

I don't doubt that Jerry Kiernans has a gripe with the GAA and is using this as an excuse to have a cheap shot at all involved. But at a certain level I can see what he is saying, the GAA player trains and trains hard but doesn't train as much or any more than several other sporting fields be it competitively or for hobby.

In recent times they have elevavted their status to give themselves this sense of entitlement and sacrifice that no others understand or can match. This isn't only at intercounty level but at club level too. In the past they GAA player was thankful for been able to do this, now I think alot of them seek thanks for it. And I've no problem with them getting it, its great what they do and entertainment they provide (well some matches are entertaining).

Also the argument that the GAA is great for the economy, thats an untruth, its good for localised economies and stimulates spending in the economy, its effect on actually attracting money into the economy is limited.

You can shovel all the money you want into the typical Irish athlete and train them twice as hard if it helps.
Most of them will never be anywhere near contention for silverware on the Olympic or World Championship stage. Even juicing them to Lance Armstrong levels probably wouldn't change that.

While this is true, you can also apply it to lots of GAA players - you can train them as much as you want, they'll be super fit but most of them won't still be able to consistently kick a ball accurately 40 yards, catch over their heads or kick it over the bar from 30 yards.

[deiseach]

I think it's hard to justify the grants to the GAA precisely because the GAA is the biggest sports organisation in the country. Then again, it's hard to justify all elite sports funding. You can see in Britain how  hundreds of millions was spent on the funding of elite athletes despite there being little evidence that it leads to more people hopping on a bike or getting onto a judo mat. It's something that's done because it allows politicians to slap themselves on the back about the contribution they make to what a great sporting nation they are - whatever nation that might happen to be.