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Virtually since its inception GAA has been hailed as the ultimate family sport. Indeed, down through the decades the country’s biggest sporting body has cemented itself as the very heartbeat of communities in every area of the island of Ireland.
hile its prime function is to facilitate the playing of gaelic games, it also serves as the glue that binds people together and this has never been more in evidence than it has been since the onset of Covid-19.
Family has always been at the very core of the organisation, the fabric that bonds families and clubs and provides a sporting outlet that if anything has become even more pronounced in recent years.
This being the case, it is understandable how generations of families have been rooted in the games of gaelic football, hurling, camogie and ladies football.
The phenomenal spread of GAA within younger people has spawned family achievements which further serve to underline the vital role that it plays at grassroots level.
Only last weekend we witnessed a classic example of this when the three Canavan brothers — Darragh, Tommy and Ruairi — underpinned the performance of Errigal Ciaran in reaching the Tyrone senior football championship semi-finals much to the satisfaction of their legendary father Peter.
And not too far away at the Athletic Grounds the Kernan brothers Stephen and Aaron, sons of 2002 All-Ireland winning manager Joe, were stamping their impact on the win by Crossmaglen Rangers over Maghery that took the side into the Armagh Senior Football Championship final against Granemore with Stephen in his role as manager and Aaron again pulling the strings from wing-back.
In the hurling code, Portaferry won the Down Senior Championship title by just squeezing out Ballycran in the final, their victory giving immense satisfaction to former player Noel Sands who watched his sons Eoghan and Daithi strut their stuff for the winners.
Nor is it just at club level that the family thread is running through the GAA. It extends into the inter-county sphere and this year we saw Jarly Og Burns distinguish himself in Armagh’s colours just like his father Jarlath before him while Shea and Matthew Downey took a leaf from the book of their respective dads Seamus and Henry who helped Derry to All-Ireland glory in 1993.
And not to be outdone, Donegal ace Ryan McHugh continues to walk in his illustrious father Martin’s footsteps.
The desire to replicate the success of their family predecessors invariably proves a big spur for players and will continue to do. Aspects of the GAA may change and the ravages of Covid-19 and the current cost of living impasse may have taken their toll but the spirit, resilience and pride that invariably drives GAA participants on to higher goals remain intact.
The GAA, of course, is not perfect. But it is an organisation that can help to further enhance the values its participants have been taught at home.
What really sums the GAA up for me is this. We who are within the organisation can give out all we like about it – and God knows we do that often enough – but woe betide anyone from outside the Pale who might be tempted to voice criticism!
I think this automatically becomes ingrained in GAA people although it behoves us nonetheless to remain fully aware of the organisation’s perceived imperfections.
There may be a ration of negatives but against that there are lots of positives. Otherwise, Why would parents be cajoling their children to follow in their footsteps and perhaps achieve a level of success that they themselves maybe never quite managed to attain?
Gaelic games have been good to many people down through the years and that’s why those family names which are inextricably linked to success are held in such reverence.
I for one certainly hope that this continues to be the situation for the future.
For some time now the competitive age groupings have been something akin to a bone of contention.
When it was decided to reduce the Minor ceiling age from 18 to 17 this was welcomed with reservations and as things have turned out those reservations would appear to have been well-founded.
Given the enhanced levels of strength and conditioning that are required at virtually all levels just now, there is no longer the pathway that a player can take from minor level straight into senior level.
While the U17 sector has provided some exciting matches to date, it does not quite fit the bill in terms of being a definitive stepping stone between minor and senior levels particularly when it comes to the hugely demanding inter-county sector.
That’s why I would urge the reintroduction of the U18 sector because I feel it would offer rather more competitive games and perhaps prove a better launching pad for the careers of those players focussed on making it into senior teams.
While the Under 17 arena has to date been competitive and on occasions compelling, it has not quite gained the appeal which the Under 18 sector held.
For many years – indeed decades – the staging of minor and senior inter-county matches as part of a double bill involving the same counties held considerable appeal with the minor teams invariably giving everyone an insight into emerging talent that rarely failed to make an impact at senior level.
The replacing of the Under 21 sector with the Under 20 format has not quite created the concerns that surround the Under 17 sector and indeed in winning the All-Ireland U20 title in some style last year Tyrone have since seen some of their players from that all-conquering side called into the Red Hands senior set-up.
No wonder Tyrone U20 boss Paul Devlin was delighted to hail this and expressed the hope that more players from the U20 team will make the step up to senior level year on year.
While the U17 competitions continue to create their own level of interest, I feel that the restoration of the U18 level would serve a better purpose in so far as honing players’ careers is concerned.
There is no doubt that under-age football is becoming more demanding and while this is preferable to teams merely going through the motions, nevertheless I think the progress of under-age players in general requires to be monitored carefully.
It is essential that players are given every chance to reach their maximum potential but it is equally important that they are not exposed to challenges whether they be mental or physical which might prove beyond their compass.
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