Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Club Players’ Apathy
THE Club Players Association has been vocal ahead of this weekend’s GAA Congress.
During the week, the CPA Twitter account posted that Liam Griffin was being wheeled out at Croke Park today to “push for a better deal for club players all round the country”.
Griffin is an inspirational figure in various walks of life and is joined by genuine people in the CPA like Anthony Moyles, Derek Kavanagh and Aaron Kernan, all brilliant club men.
But, just over a year since the CPA was launched, I have to wonder what these guys really feel about how much momentum it has gathered.
The biggest disappointment for them must be that of the entire club playing body, which is about 200,000, only approximately 15 per cent are signed up members.
This year’s Congress will be one of the quietest and most meaningless for years. In 2010 there were 110 motions; today there are just 40.
The CPA, via Wexford, could only get one motion through for debate, on accountability. Do club players really care about that? No, they couldn’t give a damn.
I felt from the outset that the CPA top table didn’t go about things correctly strategically but, still, they have to be commended for their passion and how hard they’ve worked.
The problem is, I don’t believe the people they represent care anything near as passionately as they do.
Why don’t they have 70 per cent or 80 per cent on board to make them the most powerful sporting lobbyist group in the country?
God knows all these players are never off their phones or laptops; they could sign up very easily if they were bothered.
I have my own theories on why they haven’t. Anyone who has worked closely with club players will know that, while accepting that they have to get better structures, by and large they have the best of both worlds.
In my time, you’d never dream of going on a sun holiday in high summer. But these days, club players know when they have their periods off.
In many counties, the club scene doesn’t kick in until the county team is finished.
So club players know when they have their down time and then they need to tune in.
Many of them go abroad for months and miss nothing.
All of this, for me, is why the vast majority haven’t signed up.
The CPA tweet referenced Griffin speaking of the “worrying tide of elitism and money.”
But getting a better deal for club players has little to do with elitism and money. It’s a different argument and the club players’ plight should not be used as a stick to beat the GAA with in this instance.
I wonder how much longer the CPA leaders will be able to fight the case for so many players when 85 per cent of them don’t care enough to even support the cause.
I have no doubt that Griffin will deliver a stirring oration today but, ultimately, I fear it will count for nothing.
As I said, while there are plenty of issues to be resolved around fixtures and players being flogged at this time of year with Sigerson crossover, etc, club players don’t have it too badly now.
Because if that wasn’t the case, and they were really hurting about their plight, they’d be standing right behind the CPA leadership in far greater numbers.