John Fogarty
THE reaction among the GPA’s detractors to their support for the regulated payment of inter-county managers was predictable. “They would, wouldn’t they?”
This writer has been critical of the now official players body in the past, concerned their talk of not buying the idea of volunteerism and claiming the importance of the inter-county player was greater than the man who sweeps the dressing room floor was more than just brinksmanship, more than just opening gambits.
However, the official recognition protocol in which they fully subscribed to the amateur ethos of the GAA appears to have curbed any threat of a pursuit of some form of professionalism among their ranks.
They are subsumed to a certain extent under the auspices of the Association.
At the same time, they are doing some excellent and noble work now, providing inter-county players with no end of support in all parts of their lives.
The amount of funding they attract is high, perhaps too high, and will likely be scaled down as Croke Park reviews all its outgoings in the current stricken economic climate.
But they have proven themselves decent commercial partners so far, the All Star deal with Opel and the recent Price Waterhouse Cooper sponsorship returning dividends for both bodies.
They have challenges ahead of them.
The recent decisions by players to take time out, withdraw or retire from teams indicate the pressures being exacted on inter-county hurlers and footballers.
For so few games in an inter-county season, they are being subjected to incredible demands on their time and pocket.
Never in the history of the GAA has there been more reason, at least in the output of players, to reward them for their contributions.
That’s not to say they should be. Most definitely not, in this writer’s opinion, but then neither should they be out of pocket for their services.
The same goes for managers.
Were they to be given the use of a car and a fuel allowance for the length of their term in charge, it would be a deserving perk. But pay them? No.
The GPA, though, have no problem with managers being remunerated from central funds. They also insist they would not seek payment for their members were managers to be paid.
They refer to an independent survey commissioned by them in 2010 in which 134 of 189 players who backed managers being paid said they wouldn’t look for it themselves if managers were waged.
Two years is a long time in this Ireland. The standard of living has dropped considerably.
GAA-wise, the GPA is now officially recognised. It’s in their best interests and those of the Association to provide accurate and up-to-date feedback from their members.
In the maelstrom of players who voiced their support for payment if managers were also being compensated, GPA spokesman Seán Potts spoke of the “silent majority” who had to be considered.
"This survey was comprehensive and we still feel it represents the view of our membership,” he said.
Few doubt the thoroughness of the study and nobody knows inter-county players better than the GPA themselves but feeling is one thing; knowing is another.
For the record, let’s gather up some of those sound-bites:
Kerry’s Bryan Sheehan: “Yeah, managers probably to get paid but I think players be should be looked after just as much.”
Dublin’s Alan Brogan: “It (paying managers) might open the floodgates a little bit and it could be a dangerous road to go down, to be honest, but how else do you do it?”
Wexford’s Aindreas Doyle (Twitter): “The GAA are on another planet if they think players are going to give the current commitment forever.”
Dublin’s Conal Keaney (Twitter): "Managers getting paid, there would be no game without players.”
Offaly’s PJ Ward (Twitter, sic): “GAA is a voluntary organisation all over the boards managers shudnt b paid if player aren’t.”
The argument being made by the GPA is that players have no problem with managers being paid if it ensures, as they suspect it will, they have top-class systems in place.
The thing is most of them already do without a large proportion of managers being paid at the moment so one wonders just how strong the argument is there.
An identifiably paid manager isn’t going to make life any easier for them; it’s going to legitimise every task they’re asked. In fact, it’s going to heap more upon them as managers strive to justify their worth.
For the benefit of the GAA as they shortly sit down to evaluate director general Páraic Duffy’s discussion payment and the written submissions from the counties, the GPA should commission another survey to see what players make of the idea of paying managers now.
The GPA are obliged to reflect the interests of their membership. If there are indications, as there have been in recent weeks, that there is a change in opinion they must attempt to ascertain its value.
It’s also incumbent on them to provide the GAA with information like do inter-county players believe it could be the thin end of the wedge? How would they respond to a manager being paid when managers claim ad nauseam it is they, the players, who are the winning and losing of games?
As the GAA considers bending its most core value, empirical and current data from the true last bastions of high-profile amateur sport in this country must be gathered.
What’s there to be afraid of but the truth?
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/z5tfS1dlOiA/post.aspx
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