Jack of clubs
INTER-COUNTY ARENA IS LEAST IMPORTANT FACET OF THE GAA, SAYS DUBS ACE
JACK MCCAFFREY has stressed that the inter-county game is the “least important facet” of the GAA.
The Dublin All-ireland winner’s comments come in the wake of the ESRI report on inter-county hurlers and footballers which was published last week.
After extensive surveying of players, among the main findings was that they spend up to 31 hours per week on their inter-county commitments.
While not questioning that stat, Mccaffrey said it doesn’t quite tally with his own experience.
He explained: “I was actually chatting to my dad about it. He just asked me if that was my experience of things, and to be honest it hasn’t really been; 31 hours seemed quite high.
“I’m not doubting that it is the average when you pull all your stats, but it’s not how things have worked for me so far, thankfully.
“From the career perspective we are very lucky in the management setup we have that they are very tuned in to what your priorities are. The work/life balance is something that Jim [Gavin, inset] is very conscious of,” the recently-qualified doctor outlined.
“There’s no doubt that as my career progresses along, it will become more demanding like any profession does. I don’t lose too much sleep over it at the moment.”
Also in the report was the revelation that 78 per cent of footballers surveyed would not be prepared to spend more time with their clubs if it was to the detriment of their progress at inter-county level, suggesting that the gap between the club and inter-county game is continuing to widen.
But Mccaffrey said: “I think people have to take a bit of a step back and realise that the intercounty side of the GAA is the least important facet of the organisation.
“The beauty of the GAA is that you can walk into any parish in the country and there’ll be a pub, a church and a GAA club.
“Like, my sister has moved to New Zealand and she’s joined the GAA club over there, met some people and it’s a great starting point for her there.
“Whatever about the club players, the people involved in the admin side of clubs, the auld lads in the club who are involved in the game and everything, that’s the most important thing about the GAA.”
He added: “I don’t mean to come across as if I’m undermining the importance of the county game. We really enjoy it and put a lot of work into it and it’s very important to a lot of people.”