Shine a light on fixtures mess!
Sice says GAA have to revamp schedule
COROFIN veteran Gary Sice has pleaded with the GAA to introduce a calendar year fixture programme. For the fifth time in six years Sice and his Corofin team-mates face into a wraparound season which will resume in February when they will face either Gaoth Dobhair or Scotstown in the AllIreland semi-final.
It will mean yet another festive period for the Corofin players, who completed a Connacht threein-a-row with a four-point win over Ballintubber on Sunday, where one eye will be kept on the turkey and the other on their training schedule.
The latest effort for fixture reform in the GAA was rejected at last Saturday’s Central Council meeting when a Roscommon motion for an immediate review of the national fixtures programme received only a handful of votes.
The GAA has promised to conduct a review of its fixture schedule next summer, but the manner in which Roscommon’s bid for a review was put down — their delegate Tommy Kenoy labelled the vote as ‘horrific’ — would suggest that there is little appetite for major reform within the association.
But for those at the coalface, like 34-year-old former Galway star Sice, change cannot come soon enough.
‘We are very aware of what is to come over Christmas and the break is extremely different, it nearly feels like you are starting out with a new team again,’ argued Sice, who believes that the All-Ireland club series would benefit from a calendar year finish.
‘Wouldn’t it be lovely to have the two semi-finals in the first week of December above in Croke Park and the All-Ireland final there two weeks later.
‘Would not that just be a fantastic occasion to have those games played under lights this month on the best pitch in the country
instead of being up to our ankles in muck in Tullamore or somewhere next February. ‘That is nothing against Tullamore, but I am just saying what is the point waiting until the middle of February when there is every chance you will be playing in the middle of a storm on a heavy pitch when you could be playing this on a really good surface and at a stage of the year where all the teams involved are in perfect shape,’ continued Sice.
The argument for a calendar year has long been in play. The GAA’s former director general Paraic Duffy was a passionate advocate but saw proposals to bring one into play rejected at Congress earlier this decade.
But despite a history of fixture reform being knocked back, Sice is adamant that it is within the GAA’s powers to deliver a calendar year schedule provided the political will is there.
‘Anything can be done. If they can bring teams to Sydney and bring teams to Boston, they can surely bring clubs to Croke Park in the calendar year,’ added Sice.
Irrespective of when it will be played, Corofin showed why they are still the team to beat this season.
They revealed their strength in depth in winning Connacht despite having had Ian Burke unavailable to start because of a rib injury, but the Galway star made an immediate impact in Sunday’s final when he scored the match-winning goal within 30 seconds of coming on the field.
It capped a sensational year for Burke, even though his selection as Galway’s only All-Star — ahead of team-mates Damien Comer and Shane Walsh — generated surprise in some quarters last month.
However, it came as no surprise to those who know him best.
‘Ian came on and what do you do with him… that is what he is about,’ said Sice, who has no doubts about his team-mate’s All-Star quality.
‘They are not looking too close at Ian Burke if they are raising their eyebrows because no one who has ever played with Ian Burke would be raising their eyebrows about him winning an AllStar, he is that good.
‘I am only hoping he will get even better. We are so proud of him here in Corofin, we love playing with him.’