Currans will be a centre of best practice and expertise
OUR clubs and supporters seek and demand success at senior football level on a consistent basis and it is this desire for success in my view that distinguishes us from other counties. This constant desire for success underpins the greatness of Kerry football and will always ensure that we all aspire to the highest possible standards. Without it, our standards and drive to succeed might not be as strong.
As a county executive and management team our challenge is to channel this innate expectation for success into a formula that will ensure the undoubted talent we have had over recent years is integrated into the Senior team as quickly and seamlessly as possible, but always ensuring the development of these young players is protected at all times.
In this regard you will all be aware of the measures that have been taken over the last number of months to ensure the gaps in our set up are eliminated and to that end, we have agreed and put in place a threeyear programme of supports for the senior panel, with particular emphasis on player development and progression together with strength and conditioning.
The imminent completion of the Centre of Excellence in Currans will enable us to deliver these programmes within a state of the art facility in a co-ordinated and streamlined approach. Joe O’Connor has joined the team as Head of Athletic Development, Niall O’Mahony joins as S&C Coach, along with James Weldon of Fossa who also joins the set-up. I am confident that this will mark the start of a successful era for our senior footballers.
I believe we are about to enter a new era in Kerry football and hurling. I genuinely believe that Kerry is a unique GAA county, where everyone is rewarded for effort and ability in equal measure, on and off the field.
I have outlined the measures taken over the last number of months to ensure the gaps in our set-up are eliminated by putting in place a three-year programme of supports. This programme will extend to all our inter-county teams and down to Development Squad level. I believe what we have now started will serve Kerry well into the future by ensuring we have fully integrated and streamlined S&C programmes for all our teams and development squads.
The Centre in Currans is finally going to become a reality. Our vision for Currans is for it to become a centre of best practice not only in coaching and training our teams but that the medical, physio and S&C elements of our set up and nurtured and promoted to be the very best. Over time our plan is for the Centre to become self-sustaining and we are currently working on how this will be achieved. Currans will facilitate collective thinking and expertise under one roof that will inevitably ensure that all our teams and players are given the very best chance of success.
IT is important to say from the outset that as an executive we are committed to providing everything reasonably expected in the preparation of our county teams. Finance is a fundamental component to the smooth operation of the Board and having a properly resourced office is integral in achieving this.
This year I instigated dramatic changes to our Finance Committee and broke with tradition by appointing two people from outside the executive as Chairperson and Secretary of the Finance committee.
The appointment of Michael John Kearney as Chairman and Maureen O’Shea as Secretary has proven to be a great success. Furthermore, the appointment of Eileen Hartnett as our financial controller was also a key appointment and freed up more time for treasurer Weeshie Lynch to focus on strategic financial planning and decision making.
Finance is an area that needs constant attention as the demands are high. Not only have we added new people outside of the executive to the Finance Committee we have also introduced procedures for cash collection, ticket payment, etc. and will continue to develop these processes over the coming year. The end result is that we will have a smooth running operation befitting Kerry GAA and one that serves all our clubs well.
These processes will ensure that a basic, efficient and fully functioning finance department within the board has been created with continuity and delivery of service achieved irrespective of who holds office at a given time.
An obvious lesson from this year is that we should embrace the opportunity of introducing expertise from the outside when we can. It serves two purposes: (1) A wealth of objective financial expertise is introduced, (2) The workload of our volunteers is reduced and allows more time to focus on key future financial strategies.
In that regard it is my intention to have a Commercial Body appointed and fully operational by the end of 2018. This body will assist the Executive and Finance Committee in advancing our commercial strategy, maximising our brand, and maximising the commercial opportunities available. It will comprise of senior ranking business people from Kerry or with strong links to Kerry who will give freely of their time and expertise.
I am very conscious of the financial burdens our clubs face and I’d hope that this body in conjunction with our finance and fundraising committees would be able to identify alternative revenue streams that will not impact on the clubs and over time develop a sustainable funding model for the Board.
Our fundraising efforts for capital development have been impressive over the past number of years, particularly the international fundraising drive. Nonetheless, we will still have a significant long-term loan that will need to be managed carefully over the next number of years.
We will also have the additional financial burden of operating the Currans facility and while there will be savings and economies of scale when complete there will still be a deficit to be made up.
The time has now come to identify a new source of revenue: how that will manifest itself remains to be seen but we are meeting to commence this process.
To date Kerry GAA has netted €1.475 from international fundraising which includes Dublin. One of the primary objectives of the Board is to create a sustainable funding model – both internationally for capital infrastructure and elsewhere in the form of local and national funding initiatives. I see the formation of the commercial body mentioned previously as being central in achieving this.
Having been to the US and UK this year and speaking with the key people there it became apparent that as a board we need to be very careful not to endanger this avenue of fundraising by overexerting such a valuable source of income. It is for this reason that no international fundraising took place in 2017. In this regard it is felt that such fundraising activities should take place every two to three years to ensure continuity is maintained. International Fundraising initiatives are planned for 2018 in Dublin, London and New York respectively.