Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Let’s get going ..but take time to appreciate effort involved
DESPITE it hanging in the balance, it’s absolutely fantastic to h ave co u n ty games back – and we’re starting off with some big ones.
And I’m thrilled today to be doing my first commentary on a game in nearly eight months – Armagh’s top of the table clash with Roscommon.
Divi sion 1 almost certainly awaits the winner – and it would be a huge achievement for the victorious manager and county.
But spare a thought for the players. Things have taken a turn for the worse with Covid -19 and the games return under a pretty dark cloud.
We all take it f or granted that these elite athletes just turn up and strut their stuff. But l have spoken to a number of them and it’s not
quite that simple.
There i s a real sense of anxiety out there among our young p e o p l e . Th i s virus is affecting many of the ir friends and family – and, in some cases, their jobs. The case numbers are back at peak l e v el s and the chronic acceleration of c ommunity transmission must be making them question their i nvolvement i n sport at the moment.
Everything they have been accustomed to as county players has been turned upside down. Th eir training body clocks are all over the place, they ’re dealing with mandatory testing and f orm-filling and constantly keeping to the regulations.
So it’s understandable if some feel they have been thrown to the wolves a bit – that they are just fodder for TV viewing entertainment.
Just look at the Fermanagh situation this past week with up to a dozen cases; the Armagh squad dealing with a big outbreak a few weeks ago and, last Saturday, the Roscommon players innocently sitting having a bite to eat after their challenge game against Donegal when th e Gardai come in to break it up and begin a investigation into matters.
These young men and women are no more less vulnerable than our sons and daughters. Being a county player in the midst of this second wave is far from easy.
Their attitude has been brilliant.
Ryan makes a serious point here and he’s right. Why has the GPA said nothing about this? It’s wrong.