Plan to play All-Ireland final at Christmas
THE All-Ireland hurling and football finals will be played in 2020 with the potential of the football final being held on the weekend before Christmas, under plans being considered by the GAA.
It comes as the Government has issued a blueprint for the return of amateur sports that will see spitting forbidden and whistles banned from use for the time being.
SPORT is slowly being unleashed on a country starved of hurling, soccer, rugby and other games for three long months because of Covid-19.
For parents, the overriding question is whether it is now safe to allow youngsters back to their beloved sports clubs with their friends.
However, club officials admitted that contact training for juvenile teams, and even competitive matches, are still weeks if not months away because of the ongoing pandemic controls.
Dressing rooms are likely going to remain closed for the time being, while all clubs will adhere to strict hygiene controls and health checks.
The gradual easing of pandemic restrictions on sports has come as a welcome relief to stressed parents, an early Christmas present to bored youngsters and a giant organisational headache to juvenile sports officials and volunteers nationwide.
Under phase two of the easing of Ireland’s Covid-19 pandemic control restrictions, non-contact training can resume in small, controlled groups. However, competitive matches and full-team contact training aren’t likely to resume until at least phase four, which is late July.
That poses a headache for rugby, soccer and GAA officials who have hundreds of summer training camps scheduled for late June and July. Many admit such camps aren’tlikelytogoaheaduntil August.
Kilmacud Crokes in Dublin boasts one of Ireland’s biggest juvenile operations.
Club PRO Ronnie Murray said they have 4,937 members, with 2,565 players from 70 different schools.
Kilmacud fields 183 teams, which doesn’t even include their nursery-level activities – 64 Gaelic football teams, 55 hurling teams, 35 ladies football teams and 29 camogie sides.
“At Kilmacud Crokes we can’t wait to get back into action with training and games. We are committed to the health of our members and players and, as such, will be directed by the GAA with guidance on return to play, timing and protocols,” Mr Murray said.
“Whilst living under the restrictions we have realised just how important the club community has been, even in a Dublin suburban setting – ní neart go cur le chéile.
“The virus pandemic has showcased everything that is great about the GAA community across the country and here in Kilmacud Crokes we are proud of the part we have played in this support. We are looking forward, with optimism and excitement, to the return to play.”
Highfield RFC in Cork is another club with a hugely successful juvenile section.
Billy Quinlan is the under12 section coach as well as director of rugby for the adult section.
“We were waiting for the protocols from the IRFU in respect of getting small group training and skills training back up and running,” he said.
“But we don’t expect to see team training until late July or maybe even August.
“Every year we are one of the clubs that participates in a Munster Rugby skills camp. That usually takes place in July but we are hoping that will still take place, but possibly in August.
“If we have to, we will adapt
the summer camp to small groups training and a focus on skills rather than team contact training.”
Among the biggest questions facing GAA clubs now is the timing of the popular GAA Cúl camps.
In Leinster, more than 36,000 youngsters participate in the camps which are staged by virtually all GAA clubs.
The GAA is now awaiting further guidance on the easing of pandemic restrictions before confirming dates for the Cúl camps nationwide and opening the booking process.
But many believe they won’t take place before late July or even August.
GAA director general Tom Ryan said the organisation was fully committed to a safe way to reopen its pitches and facilities nationwide.
Other GAA officials admitted that the 2020 camps may have to take place with restricted numbers and controls over contact training and matches.
Over the years, some Cúl camps attracted 200-plus youngsters aged from six to 13.
National Cúl camps co-ordinator Charlie Harrison is busy finalising a roadmap for how these camps can take place nationwide once HSE guidelines are implemented.
Some GAA clubs have embraced the home-skills initiative to keep players active pending the return of training.
In Limerick, Ahane Camogie Club held its last club training session in March.
While small-group non-contact training will be allowed from Monday, team training sessions are unlikely to be sanctioned before late July.
Ahane chairman Tony Kenny said most clubs believe they won’t be properly back in action before July 20 because of issues over facilities access, insurance and even volunteer rosters.
“If you had asked me a few weeks ago, I would have said I had no hope of games happening at all this year. Now there does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel, but health is still the most important thing,” Mr Kenny said.
Soccer clubs have been advised that full-contact training won’t happen for some time.
St Patrick’s CY in Ringsend, Dublin, has been working overtime to support players training individually and, from Monday, who will be able to undertake non-contact training in groups of four.
Club secretary, David Nolan, said the pandemic has hit everything from match schedules to training and even the completion of the club’s new €1.6m clubhouse.
“It’s a big part of their life that is just gone. Right at the time when you need the escape of sport the most,” he said.
It is not yet known how changing rooms will work once matches resume.
“And this isn’t the kind of thing where players can just get changed on the sideline,” he said.
Dublin’s roller derby team engage in a full-contact indoor sport, so they’re not going to be able to train together until August.
Roller skater Elaine Snowden said that most competitive roller derby events are international. One major trip to the US was already cancelled this year.
With Dublin City Council halls still closed, the team has tried to go out and skate together in small groups.
They have even tried to train on Zoom, watching along and encouraging each other.
“It’s like doing the horrible side of the exercise without the benefit of being with your pals,” Ms Snowden said.