Is the GAA becoming an Amateur Organisation?

[From the Bunker]

Time and time again we see soccer in this country get a hiding, but do we look at the GAA with rose tinted glasses?

Suspensions - The fiaso with Paul Galvin - Suspensions in general, no consistency of punishments, to many administrators and boards. Have a rule, hand out a suspension and have it done with. Amateur players have more to be doing than running and racing to incompetent administrators.

Tickets - Prices, availability, have come to become major issues, People paying professional prices to see Amateur Players. Costing to much to see players who are doing it for the love/pride of their county. This is not the premiership and charging high prices puts unreal expectations on players. Time to bring down the prices, bring in the crowds and make it affordable for families to see their team.

County Board Expenses - County boards are spending hundreds of thousands on County teams, less going to grass roots. Biggest problem with the game is the amount of money going into inter-county teams. Much of this money could be used on camps, facilities, for the growth of the game.

Croke Park - The Monster that needs to be fed for 4/5 months of the year and has been on rations this year (No Dubs, No full house). ALot of empty seats this summer in Croker. Many games could have been played in more local venues. once again excluding the common fan.

Australian Rules Another fiasco, holidays for the board room boys while the player get walloped and the young apprentices get stolen. Time to cut ties. Aussies must be (are) having a good laugh at us.

Fixtures another problem, one team playing 4 games in a month, another team playing no game for two months.

Provincial Politics Kerry and Cork make sure they are seeded so that they are not involved in knockout AI competition until August.

[Zulu]

I'd have to disagree with a lot of that, tickets are fine the way they are (by and large), county teams are essential to the promotion of the games and warrant the expediture spent on them, Croke Park is a magnificent venue and an integral part of the GAA, I don't know whayou're on about with the International Rules or Provincial politics. It was Waterford who screwed over their fellow Munstermen not Cork or Kerry.

[Rossfan]

"From the bunker" is right. You are well named
I suspect you are anti GPA too
As for cutting ties with the Australians - please  tell me how that will stop them taking young footballers.

[haze]

Bunker, by and large i understand the grievances you outline but in your post you don't offer any solutions to address any of these. Similar to alot of posts i've read on different forums and also in the general media there is an ever-increasing tendancy to criticise the GAA at every corner.

On the Australian Rules, you emphasize the players amateur status, and how the trip is for the board room boys but you neglect the fact that the majority of these amateur players enjoy taking part in the series.

Yes the disciplinary system is currently bordering on the unworkable, but has it ever been any other way??

Tickets too expensive, yes maybe but again what isn't? there is not too many products or services in post Celtic Tiger Ireland that is not overpriced. And personally give me 70 mins of GAA action watching "amateur players" over 90 mins of professionals in the premiership.

Less games in Croke park to suit the common fan.... Yeah again it might do, but ask any player where he wants to be playing in high summer and it will be in Croker.

And finally as for fixtures, how easy is it to raise that point as a bone of contention... And yet offer no insight as to how the monumental GAA fixture programme could be more effectively managed.

[Pangurban]

Congragulations From the Bunker, you have hit every nail exactly on the Head, best and most intelligent post on this forum for a long time

[haze]

Congragulations From the Bunker, you have hit every nail exactly on the Head, best and most intelligent post on this forum for a long time

what?? Jesus we in Ireland clearly do love a good old whinge

[pintsofguinness]

Congragulations From the Bunker, you have hit every nail exactly on the Head, best and most intelligent post on this forum for a long time

what?? Jesus we in Ireland clearly do love a good old whinge

If you haven't something sensible to say then just don't bother, if you want to go on with immature shite go somewhere else, the "hot" threads on the non gaa section may be able to accommodate you.



from the bunker

Suspensions - The fiaso with Paul Galvin - Suspensions in general, no consistency of punishments, to many administrators and boards. Have a rule, hand out a suspension and have it done with. Amateur players have more to be doing than running and racing to incompetent administrators.

Agree, absolute bullshit and amount of coverage someone gets  by the pukes on the Sunday game seems to be the main basis for suspensions.  A suspension should be for x games, not x weeks also. 

Tickets - Prices, availability, have come to become major issues, People paying professional prices to see Amateur Players. Costing to much to see players who are doing it for the love/pride of their county. This is not the premiership and charging high prices puts unreal expectations on players. Time to bring down the prices, bring in the crowds and make it affordable for families to see their team.

Difficult to know how the GAA should handle this.  Clearly people are cutting back this year with the current economy but should the GAA bring down prices to accommodate this? Maybe so.  That said, I don't expect that premiership clubs have and I didn't notice any affect in attendance there?  Overall I think ticket prices are a little steep and not just for the final stages of the championship either.

County Board Expenses - County boards are spending hundreds of thousands on County teams, less going to grass roots. Biggest problem with the game is the amount of money going into inter-county teams. Much of this money could be used on camps, facilities, for the growth of the game.

I'm not sure about the money but I agree that there is to much emphasis on the county teams.  I realise that it's the county team that draws in the most cash for the GAA during the summer but if the attitude towards club football continues there is going to be a massive problem.  We worry about the Australian rules or drinking taking players away but maybe less would drift away from the sport if they could plan holidays, if they didn't have to train for maybe 9 or 10 month of the year and if they weren't training since February for a championship only starting in Sept due to the county team having a run in the championship.  These problems could be sorted out if someone with a brain would sit down with a calender.  - same goes for county fixtures.

Croke Park - The Monster that needs to be fed for 4/5 months of the year and has been on rations this year (No Dubs, No full house). ALot of empty seats this summer in Croker. Many games could have been played in more local venues. once again excluding the common fan.

Definitely needs to be looked at, it's a major concern imo.  I do think that from quarter final stage (certainly semi final stage) on though that games should be held in Croke Park.  There is a couple of things that can improve attendance:
1.  A ticket system - where a large proportion of All Ireland Final tickets are distributed on the basis of who attended the most games. I think you would get a lot less waiting for the All Ireland Final.
2.  Cheaper tickets, if you didn't want to go down the road of cutting the prices on all the tickets at least make certain sections of the ground cheaper. 
3.  Marketing.  I go through Dublin airport quite regularly I can't ever recall seeing any mention of the GAA?  These games should be drawing in tourists but this probably goes back to tickets where people will be reluctant to pay maybe a 100 euro on a couple of tickets to see a sport they've never seen before, but maybe discounts could be available, get in touch with some of the airlines perhaps? Make some tickets available (at discount prices) through them?  I'd imagine there's a hell of a lot of tourists in Dublin today but how many will be at the games? Very few I'd say. 

I'd add in another point;
Referees
We've f**k all decent referees in the country - 1 at county level.  It's time this issue was seriously looked at and if anyone should be getting a grand at the end of the year it should be them.  Time for retraining with a lot of them, it might help if we could define a tackle. 


Will any of these issues be addressed? Absolutely not, the gaa would rather close their eyes, we'd all the same problems last year but what did they do? They spent their time issuing a new logo.  Pure bullshit.
Overall, I think what we need more than anything is a GAA president with a brain less concerned about what the media think of him/us and more concerned about the game, the membership of the association, the players and fixing things for US no matter who has their nose bent out of shape.