Why doesn't the GAA prosper in working class areas?

[Zulu]

I come from a medium sized town and my own club is a very much a mix n' match type of club with a strong working class presence. I've also played for two city clubs which are similar enough but in one of those clubs in particular GAA was very much the second choice for a lot of the players. And I think it is fair to say that the GAA has failed to penetrate urban working class areas with any great deal of success. Is that a fair comment and if so any ideas why?

[carnaross]

I come from a medium sized town and my own club is a very much a mix n' match type of club with a strong working class presence. I've also played for two city clubs which are similar enough but in one of those clubs in particular GAA was very much the second choice for a lot of the players. And I think it is fair to say that the GAA has failed to penetrate urban working class areas with any great deal of success. Is that a fair comment and if so any ideas why?

GAA in urban working class areas doesn't work as there tends to be a shortage of wide open places to play the game in the same way as soccer, which can be played on any auld patch of land. Plus, untended ground certainly doesn't lend itself to Gaelic football. Another reason could be the general apathy among the adults in these areas nowadays to help organise the kids to play (whether these adults are attached to clubs or not). Lastly, IMO, these kids are aleady spending far too much time watching TV - guess what, they're watching soccer, the players of which are constantly being built up into huge icons by the whole media, so, naturally, the kids want to go out and "be" their idols - sadly, not Gaelic sports stars anymore.

[Gnevin]

Unlike soccer GAA can't be played on the road with Jumpers for goalpost as the old saying goes. I believe this is the main issue .

[Captain Scarlet]

Exactly a lad in some tiny tar playground with 50 lads around him will still be able to do the skill he saw on Match of the Day. He won't be doin whats he saw on the Sunday Game unless there are plexiglass windows around!

But as was said there are parks never too far away but its a case of mobilising the adults.

[Zulu]

I'm not so sure lads, most kids whatever their backgrounds play all sports available to them and most of them have soccer players as their idols. All the lads I played GAA with also played soccer in the local estates and supported some English soccer team, yet when a sporting choice was made most picked the GAA.

[Jinxy]

Soccer=Wheelbarrow loads of money to a lot of kids. You don't even have to be that good anymore. Sure look at some of the wasters that are plying their trade in the premiership and championship. There are lads in the Irish squad who I've never even heard of, don't know who they play for either, but I know they blow their noses with £100 notes. Added to this, it's convenient as it requires minimal facilities and kids are bombarded with TV coverage of it day and night. Tennis, swimming, rowing and athletics aren't very popular in working class areas either.

[Zulu]

But all those things apply to rural or middle class areas equally. Furthermore by the time guys are making their sporting choices they are old enough to realise they won't make it as pro soccer players. So why do working class lads predominantly pick soccer over GAA and why do GAA clubs set up in working class areas struggle to survive and generally play second fiddle to soccer in terms of player committment? I grew up in a town where all the schools played GAA only, most of the kids who played sport played GAA with the local club, but by adult level many of the lads from working class areas played soccer only and most of the middle class lads played GAA only(though most played soccer as kids with the local club).
                                               The reason that I think this is important is that this is the area where the GAA can grow most, so we need to know why we have failed there in the past.

[Jinxy]

Well, in general, regardless of what level you are playing gaelic games at there is a pretty high level of commitment involved. Any lads I know still involved in adult soccer train when it suits them, show up for games when it suits them and drink like fish every second night of the week. That appeals to a lot of fellas who are only out for a bit of craic. There are lads out there for whom the idea of HAVING to attend training at designated times 2/3 days a week is just too much hassle. It's very hard to have a casual playing role with your local GAA club without putting someones nose out of joint i.e. other players/management.

[Zapatista]

The other school of thought is-

The reason the GAA was so successful in working class areas is it was almost a protest sport. The GAA itself was designed as a protest organisation. Middle class people will never attach themselves to a protest against the status-quo as they have it good.To protest is a danger to them. The working class still use the GAA as a form of protest against the scary outsiders. This is less the reason today for the future but down through the years in Ireland it it true to say you don't bite the hand that feeds you, even if it is British. The many middle class institutions in our society today are the same ones there down through the years and have simply inherited this dislike for the GAA.

I think this is only a hangover now and attitudes will continue change.

[Zulu]

Zapatista, do you regard the GAA as a working class organisation? I personally think the GAA crosses all boundaries in Irish society but it struggles to get a strong foothold in urban working class areas.
                                   Jinxy soccer definately appeals to lads who just want a bit of a kick around more than GAA does, in fact I think that is a weakness of the GAA, we don't really have a 'scocial level'. But again some lads of all backgrounds will, as they get older, want to just play low level sport.

[Zapatista]

Not at all. I do think that at the time the GAA came about it was a lower class organisation. I think what we see now is a hangover from that. More so in the six countys where Unionists see the GAA as a treat to the hand that feeds them (the Brits) and Nationalists see it as a protest against the hand that slaps them (the Brits).

[Zulu]

Oh right, but even in Ulster would it be fair to say that the GAA is the game of the rural and middle class Catholic community. Even in Ulster where for obvious reasons the GAA may have represented more than a sporting organisation to the Nationalist community, soccer wins hands down in Derry city.

[carnaross]

Not at all. I do think that at the time the GAA came about it was a lower class organisation. I think what we see now is a hangover from that. More so in the six countys where Unionists see the GAA as a treat to the hand that feeds them (the Brits) and Nationalists see it as a protest against the hand that slaps them (the Brits).

Rubbish, look at what happened in Newry the other day - NI Sports Minister, Edwin Poots at the Down game. Things are changing.

[Gnevin]

Soccer=Wheelbarrow loads of money to a lot of kids. You don't even have to be that good anymore. Sure look at some of the wasters that are plying their trade in the premiership and championship. There are lads in the Irish squad who I've never even heard of, don't know who they play for either, but I know they blow their noses with £100 notes. Added to this, it's convenient as it requires minimal facilities and kids are bombarded with TV coverage of it day and night. Tennis, swimming, rowing and athletics aren't very popular in working class areas either.

Do 7-8 years really think like that? Maybe 15-16 but kids?

[Zulu]

Do 7-8 years really think like that? Maybe 15-16 but kids?

I don't think either age group think like that, obviously if your an IC minor and getting trials for a premiership club then you may have to make a choice but only a tiny % of lads would fall into that category.