Reaction to the GAA’s Safe Return roadmap
‘If I was a club manager I’d be delighted’
IT has been a long, arduous spring and early summer for sport in this country but finally, there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel.
On Friday, the GAA unveiled its ‘Safe Return to Gaelic Games’ document, which details a passed approach for returning to club and county football and hurling, as long as the Government deem it safe to do so.
According to the framework, starting June 29, clubs will be able to partake in small group training sessions of no more than 10 people at adult and juvenile in order to best adhere to social distancing recommendations.
From July 20, all forms of group and team training will be permitted, with club competitions recommencing from July 31 until October 11, with individual county board discretion when it comes to the format of regional championships.
Of course, all of this will be dependant on teams assigning Covid-19 compliance officers, as well as establishing responsible health and hygiene practices at venues.
The above infrastructure was welcomed by Casey O’Brien, manager of St. Patrick’s. who said that he was relieved that there was now a plan in place for the resumption of GAA activities by the end of the summer, as opposed to initial fears that the 2020 season’s viability would be lost entirely. His county counterpart, Davy Burke, echoed those sentiments.
‘At one stage, we were looking at whether there was going to be any football played this year, club or intercounty, so it is great to see that they are trying to work towards the championships being played,’ Casey told the Wicklow People.
‘I think we were due to start on July 13 with our first championship game, so it is not too off the beaten track.
‘Obviously, we won’t be able to play two groups of six in a football championship and the county board will have to come up with another solution, another format.’
Casey does have some concerns relating to the roadmap. While matches will be able to be played from July 31, GAA buildings will remain closed until August 10. This will likely result in players needing to arrive to the grounds fully togged out for the game, as opposed to getting changed in dressing rooms. This has resulted in O’Brien expressing the belief that, contrary to GAA protocol, matches may not be played until August.
‘It says on it that matches start on July 31 but I can’t see that happening when it is not until the August 10 that GAA buildings open, unless players are expected to tog out on the side of the pitch or in the car. I can’t see any games being played until August 10.’
As for the intercounty scene, panels will be able to meet for trainings from September 14, potentially clashing with clubs in the midst of their championship campaigns, while matches will be permitted from October 17.
This will present a unique challenge for county managers and teams. In a flipping of the script, it will be those squads that will have to contend with playing winter football and hurling, as opposed to clubs; St. Pat’s lost out to Portlaoise in the quarter-finals of the Leinster club championship in November.
Davy Burke is well aware of the unfamiliarity of the new arrangement. He said that he expected this new club-centred schedule to be installed, although he was admittedly surprised that it won’t be until September 14 that he will be able to take his Wicklow senior footballers for training once again.
In addition to that, he said that if he was a manager of a club right now, he would be over the moon with the latest development.
‘Pushing the inter-county training to the 14th of September was a bit of a shock and obviously we’ll need time to digest that and work out a plan around that. Other than that, it seems to be sensible enough and it is good that we are going to have activities. Everyone in the country needs positivity and needs to get up to their local field to watch and support their local team, etc., so I think in that regard, it is good.
‘I would be over the moon with that. What it looks like to me, and again I don’t know the ins-and-outs and we haven’t delved that deep into it yet, but it looks like they’re going to get the guts of 10 or 11 or 12 weeks uninhibited there for preparation. I don’t think any club team, in any county, has got that before. If I was a club manager in Wicklow or any county, I would be delighted with that because it looks like the GAA really have prioritised the clubs here and are really pushing that hard, and so be it.
‘You’re talking a great time of year for football and, in fairness, there would be a lot of people giving out that you play championship at the wrong time of year, so now there can be no more giving out, you’re playing in summertime. Hopefully, there will be a decent bit of weather. The clubs will be very happy.’
There remain questions concerning what the remainder of the intercounty season will look like. Will the championship format remain as is with the introduction of the tiered structure, or will the GAA opt for an open knock-out format? What does the future hold for the 2020 national league?
These are just two concerns among many others.
For the record, the GAA seem intent on concluding the leagues where promotion is up for grabs, a prospect that may see the championship deferred further into the year.
When asked about his view on the immediate future of the league, Burke made it clear that his preference would be for its completion, with matches with no promotion or relegation consequences being played as challenges.
‘I think it is very realistic to play the games which affect promotion and relegation. Others cane be used as warm-up games for championship instead of teams searching for challenge games. There are huge benefits to getting good competitive games.’
The GAA’s pathway is still tentative and dependant on how successful Ireland is when it comes to combatting the coronavirus. Final details, where they apply to championship structure, will likely be shared by the association by the end of June/early July.