Seeing the big picture is often the hardest thing

Sometimes it is hard to see the wood for the trees - a great expression that teaches us to sometimes step back and look at the big picture rather than what's right in front of us. It's an apt metaphor right now as we're hitting that most hallowed time of the year - AGM and Convention season - but it seems as if the trees are winning!

We all have a tendency to believe what we believe is the only sensible course of action, the one true path to salvation - be that in the form of a Senior championship or a Junior B title, we like to think that what we advocate is what is best for everyone - only that is definitely not true.

In the GAA world right now, the two big topics that are capturing all the attention are the “Finish on the Day” protocols and returning juvenile age groups to even ages - both of which I happen to wholeheartedly disagree with. That's not me being contrary - although my friends will tell you I'm just that but from my vantage point, unfettered by club loyalties and from a purely player welfare aspect, both the “Finish on the Day” and decoupling of underage games from adult games have been the two greatest advances the GAA have made over the past ten years.

Nominate your club teams of the year and Leitrim Sports Star award winners with this week's Leitrim Observer

That's a big call but in an era when self-interest rules when it comes to sporting administration (just look at the World Cup in Qatar for instance), those two decisions were taken, at some cost, with the long term good in mind rather than the usual short term gain.

For an organisation often unfairly tagged as the “Grab All Association”, the GAA decided that a clearly defined programme of games, both at club and county, was the best thing for its members and instead of looking to generate easy revenue through replays aplenty, they bite the bullet and got rid of them for all but finals.

That led to extra-time and to penalty shootouts and a fierce backlash from the traditionalists. All we've heard since is how penalties  really aren't “Gaelic games” and that losing on spotkicks is not a fair way to exit  a competition - a sort of twisted logic that if followed to its ultimate conclusion would mean no winners and no losers because, if we use the very same argument, losing to a last minute point or goal isn't fair either!

I've witnessed two gripping penalty shootouts this year - Leitrim in the Tailteann Cup at the hands of Sligo and Fenagh St Caillins beaten by St Mary's Kiltoghert in the Senior Championship Semi-Finals and both are among the top two sporting memories I have for the past 12 months.

Is it a cruel way to lose? Of course it is but  I'm absolutely sure there is no perfect way to see your team's championship end - actually strike that, losing a penalty shootout is probably the best of the many bad ways to lose a big game when you  think about it! Penalties are, more often than not, a matter of luck and as heartbreaking as it is to lose, blame isn't heaped on one or two poor unfortunate players.

The huge advantage of “Finish on the Day” is that it gives certainty to players and indeed their families  - they know when games are on and when they aren't, they can plan holidays, attend weddings or even, perish the thought, accommodate their working lives with a bit more ease - in other words, they can have a life outside gaelic games!

Leitrim Ladies Gaelic footballers combine with Leitrim GAA for next January 50 Mile Challenge

In an era when player welfare is such a hot topic, the notion that seasons could be virtually endless is some anachronism that defies belief. Take that Fenagh and St Mary's game and consider if the game had gone to a replay a week later - the victor would have had just a week to prepare for a County Final against Mohill and what chance would they have had then? 

Where is the fairness be in that situation? Would the Final then have to be pushed back in order to be fair to the victor? Would that have been fair to Mohill? It is a never ending circle of consequences but “Finish on the Day” offer clarity to players, to management, to clubs and to supporters, one and all.

Players have fallen in love with the split season because it gives them that very quality that they've always wanted - certainty as to fixtures and the “Finish on the Day” protocols are central to that, easy to see why it was one of the main demands of the  Club Players Association in their campaign.

That leads nicely into the growing campaign to restore juvenile competitions to even ages rather than the U17, U15 & U13 groupings we've had for a few years. What odds, says you, does a change of one year make? Won't it make it easier to retain players and bridge the gap between juvenile and adult football?

Well, again, this is where the forest from the trees comes in because the knock on effect for adult competitions could be huge if Minor went back to U18 and there was no decoupling from adult competition.

Under GAA rules, no U17 player can play adult football but if a juvenile team is U18,  that is exactly where fixture clashes come in as the “Good Minor” is pulled from pillar to post to serve two or three different masters between adult, juvenile and schools or colleges!

Like a lot of sports, the GAA has to do much better in retaining their players once they leave post primary education but moving the age group to U18 doesn't solve the problem, it just moves it up a year.  

Some commentators talk about losing players to other sports but the big problem for rural clubs seems to be they are struggling to field teams and that's a genuine concern but relying on 18 year olds to keep your team going is not a long term strategy either as they head off to college or travel the world, the problem punted down the road, probably leading  more to player burnout than anything else!

Pitch battles and a missed opportunity

THE LAST POINT

Honestly, I think adjusting to the new age groups is the issue for adults because for young players, they'll play whatever age group there is. We talk about burnout but young players are often regarded as an inexhaustible commodity, there to be played week in, week out but perhaps that is the very cause of burnout and moving the Minor category to U18 won't solve that headache.

What decoupling has done is mean the Juvenile players play their games at the best time of the year without worrying about being battered by some 30 year old plus opponent in a Junior game the week before. 

This isn't a new problem either - my first year in Leitrim, the U21 Final was played on St Stephen's Day for God's sake while I remember an U16 Final played  two days before Christmas in awful conditions - there were precious few fans out that day but scheduling conflicts meant that a game that should have been played in October finally got onto the field on December 23.

Clubs see young players in the here and now but  the aim should be to retain those players, seeing them play for their clubs for  ten or 12 years at adult level rather than being burnt out by the time they reach 20 - that's long term thinking, stepping back and seeing the forest and not just the wood. If more clubs did that, maybe they wouldn't be relying on 17 year olds nowhere near maturity to fill out their adult teams in the years ahead.

Regrets? We've had a few!

THE LAST POINT

TIME TO RECOGNISE LEITRIM’S SPORTING HEROES

The end of 2022 is fast approaching so naturally enough, we're all starting to look back to remember some of our highlights of the past 12 months and this week's Observer gives the public the chance to do just that.

On the opposite page, you'll find the nomination form for the Leitrim Observer  Club Teams of the Year and if the first two years of the scheme are anything to go by, the battle to make it onto the final 15 is sure to be fierce.

On page 92 of this week's edition, we have the nomination form for the Leitrim Sports Partnership's SportS Star of the Year Awards which returns after a two year absence due to Covid. 

With the Awards Ceremony in The Landmark Hotel on Saturday, February 4, the event is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding performances of the county's sports people and recognise the contributions of volunteers, officials and clubs of the county.

I'd urge everyone to take the time to nominate someone you feel deserves recognition for their efforts, either on the Observer Club Team of the Year or the Leitrim Sports Star Awards - it will only take a couple of minutes but is a fitting tribute to those unsung heroes who do us all so proud.