Dominic says farewell to his famous ’tache
Leech believes it’s too soon
LEINSTER LGFA President Dominic Leech says that the safety of players and officials has to be ensured before training or matches can return.
Speaking on Tuesday morning to the Wicklow and Bray People newspapers, The Newtown resident said that the dates as announced by the government last weekend are ‘too soon’ in his opinion and that there are a number of elements that have to be in place before any training or games can take place.
‘The two dates that Leo (Varadkar) in his goodness has given us are firstly June 8, which is when small groups can get together for training purposes while social distancing and no contact. Now, GAA, ladies football and camogie, first of all what is a small group, and secondly, what’s the point of getting a small group together if you have to social distance and no physical contact, you know, for a contact sport. That’s the first thing. I think, realistically, that June 8 is a strange one.
‘July 20 is the second date and if you read it, it reads very funny. It reads that events can be organised where spectators can social distance and all that stuff.
‘That can’t happen for GAA. I don’t know too many managers and I’ve managed teams a long time but I’ve never asked a corner back to social distance and stay six feet away from his corner forward. I can imagine managers on the sideline saying ‘get close to him, he hasn’t got Covid-19. I can hear that.
‘I think, on a serious note, that players have to be safe. Nothing can happen until the players and officials are in a position to be guaranteed their safety. I don’t know how you would guarantee someone’s safety but I imagine that testing would have to come into it.
‘If you do testing, you’re going to have to do it all the way down right down to underage and there’s a cost associated with the tests for a start. I genuinely can’t see how the dates will be relevant and I don’t think that anyone in their right mind will think that the dates are relevant. I think they are put out there. I think July 20, they’re saying spectators can go and they can social distance, but you have to address the aspect of the players.
‘It’s alright for me as President of Leinster to say, ‘ok, we’re opening it up, all the club matches are on, all the county matches are on, and who cares about the players.’ But at the end of the day the players are the most important part of the organisation. I can’t see anything being done until there’s a guarantee that the players are safe.
‘And the other thing is – everyone keeps going on about the All-Ireland championship – the first month is going to be solely given over to the club. The county will not start until the clubs are up and running. I don’t know what it’s like in the GAA but there are about four per cent of players that play county football (in ladies) so you have 96 per cent of players who solely play club and 100 per cent of our players would play club so the obvious thing to do is when it opens up priority is going to be given to the club matches. That’ll be for about a month, and then you would get into inter-county.
‘Nobody really knows when we’ll get back and under what circumstances we’ll get back. It’s about the players, mentors and officials. Spectators have a choice of not going or going. Players and referees and mentors, they have to be looked after.
‘It’s a pastime. It’s not a professional game., you’re doing it for the love of the game, but where does the love of the game end and the need for your own safety ensured begin.
‘An awful lot of the players I know, they’re involved in the front line. They’re in hospitals, the in shops, involved in frontline work. They’re coming from front line work, going to front line work, maybe looking after elderly parents or grandparents in the house. You can see the issues.
‘I will say one thing, there will be people out there who will just want to open it up. You just can’t. There has to be a protocol put in place to ensure that it’s safe to do so.
‘You have the summer camps coming in July. Is someone seriously telling me that there are going to be summer camps in July. That would be catastrophic, I would think.
‘I think the big thing to take out of it is that while the dates are there, they are movable feasts. Looking at the current climate I think it’s too soon. Maybe I’m wrong, I hope I’m wrong,’ he added.