It’s wrong to blame Gooch for paradox at the heart of GAA’s ethos of amateurism
JEALOUSY, we are told, can be the most destructive of all emotions – and the green-eyed monster has been savaging all before it as the countdown to the Colm ‘Gooch’ Cooper testimonial dinner on Friday gathers pace.
Of itself, the event should not be a matter of especially great consequence. The GAA is indeed an amateur sporting organisation. But there has been an increasing trend where many of its elite players are turning over a tidy income from sportrelated activities away from the field of play.
This includes promotional work, where well known names plug various products on radio, television or by personal appearance. Some big-name footballers and hurlers are also driving a grace and favour motor car – courtesy of the manufacturer. Marketeers are convinced sales will be boosted by such an obvious link with a nationally known sportsman.
And then there is the worst-kept secret of all in the association. Despite its publicly stated amateur code, certain county managers are being paid for their efforts. It is accepted this is happening by way of unorthodox expense arrangements or sophisticated ‘under the counter’ deals. The GAA top hierarchy has admitted all attempts to flush out such practices have failed.
But the Gooch has brought the complex and emotive issue of personal remuneration – in an organisation umbilically entwined with the amateur ideal – to a new level. With all the thorough preparation that marked his 15 years as one of the most lyrical players of his generation, he has been pivotal in the arrangements for this testimonial dinner. It’s the first of its kind in the 132-year history of the association.
The event has touched a deep and visceral reaction among some commentators for one overwhelming reason. The amount of money involved – even by the standards of Irish professional sport – is considerable. The event, which involves a sophisticated back-room team and sponsor, will host 50 tables. The cost for attendees is €5,000 a table, which means a tidy tax-free €250,000 can be garnered on the night.
Some of the cash will be donated to charity and to Cooper’s club, Dr Crokes, in Killarney. But as of now, the signs are the player himself will also pick up a significant sum from the evening. This has sparked a torrent of emotions, ranging from anger to venomously expressed condemnation, from those who argue the event is a too-blatant example of financial self-interest.
Some of Cooper’s critics have even gone so far as to suggest the accolades he accrued as a footballer are exaggerated. One source has argued that during his 15-year career, he “failed to perform” in a number of do-or-die games for Kerry. For many dispassionate followers of the sport, this reeks of tawdry and smallminded criticism in the overall scheme of things.
For his part, the five-time All-Ireland winner has taken on his critics with a steely defiance. “There’s players doing dinner dances, speaking after events, being brand ambassadors, doing launches. Unfortunately for the GAA, there are players earning money. So if that’s the argument, I don’t really get it,” he says.
And therein he has touched a nerve. The amateur status of elite GAA players has become increasingly blurred in a multimedia image-driven age. Any kind of blanket ban on such earnings is legally untenable and impossible to implement.
A complicating factor is that with the demands of the modern game, players from the more successful counties are as near to full-time athletes as makes no difference. Increasingly, they want some compensation for the sacrifice such time and effort is taking on their personal lives.
Perhaps the most salient point is that Ireland is an increasingly materialistic society. On a more mundane level, those in the under-40 age group are faced with precedented pressures. For many, there is a huge challenge in buying a house during a time of rocketing property prices.
As has often been commented upon when considering three iconic pillars of Irish life – the Catholic Church, Fianna Fáil and the GAA – it is the latter which has been the most adept at embracing change. It has unshackled itself from insular parochialism and many old taboos redolent of a bygone age. It still, of course, has a cultural undertone and it sees itself as rooted in Irish national identity. But in the main, attitudes have evolved beyond all recognition in recent years; it now embraces a more sophisticated and tolerant view of those who do not share its vision.
Yet there is a minority, most notably represented by some high-profile punditry coming from a Northern Ireland base, where dogmatism about what constitutes a “true
Gael” reeks of past intolerance. Some of the most vitriolic condemnation of Gooch Cooper has come from this quarter. The implied insinuation is that he is some kind of mercenary at odds with the core principles of the GAA. Yet the vast majority of those playing football or hurling for the sheer thrill of it have little time for such a view. They simply want to be as successful as possible on the field of play – and if there is the chance to make some money from their sporting prowess, so much the better.
Indeed, it can be argued in the inherent logic in the argument of former-players-turned-media-pundits – who find Cooper’s actions so abhorrent – that their own earnings from television, print, or whatever, should be ploughed back into the association. After all, just as is the case with the testimonial dinner, the money they make from such activities is on the back of their playing career.
Meanwhile, the whole issue of elite players earning income because of their ‘brand identity’ is the greatest challenge confronting a sporting organisation rooted in the amateur code and volunteerism. The GAA hierarchy is understandably almost paranoid that any form of ‘pay for play’ will dull the enthusiasm of many an enthusiast who, for example, marks out the local club ground for yet another obscure underage match.
But the lure of money, as an attraction for talented young sportsmen, can be found in many quarters. In Kerry, there was a near state of collective mourning in recent months provoked by fears that new wonder kid David Clifford, who is coming up from the minor ranks, might pursue a career as a professional Aussie rules footballer. The county had only recently lost another heart-warming young talent, Mark O’Connor, to the Australian game.
Perhaps any reservations regarding the Cooper dinner should centre on the fact it ignores his teammates who soldiered with him many a time in Croke Park. It will rankle with some that they are excluded from a slice of the action, given there is such a substantial sum involved. Yet in Gooch’s defence, some of these players have developed their own off-pitch nixers. In any case this testimonial dinner is also a reminder it is only those with ‘star attraction’ who will have the pulling power to carry off such an event.
Maybe another icon of our playing fields, rugby hero Brian O’Driscoll, might have squared the circle when he tweeted: “No idea what all the hoo haa about this legend having a testimonial is. If ever a man deserved to be honoured with one, this is the guy.”