2008 - Not a Bad Year after All With November now behind us we are half way through the "closed season" yet up and down the country we still see the floodlights of many GAA pitches illuminating the countryside and notifying us that some teams are still involved in competition. A closer inspection reveals a mass of steaming bodies earnestly engrossed in familiar training routines and confirms the fact that this team still has something serious to play for. Not all these teams are involved in provincial club championships that are played out at this time of year. Were it the case there would be no problems, for any team involved at this stage are enjoying a wonderful rollercoaster ride and everyone is keen to get training. Unfortunately a lot of these clubs are involved in finishing out their league programs and for some promotion and glory can be attained while others are facing relegation and bitter disappointment. I know that here in Tyrone there may be some justification for club competitions running late because of the success of the senior and minor county teams but not every year. I see that many other counties in Ulster are still running competitions. There are many aspects of this scenario that are quite unacceptable especially when a team's future may be decided on pitches that are barely playable and in conditions that are not conducive to football. Teams that have nothing to play for may or may not field a team and can be responsible (unintentionally) for forfeiting points that will eventually relegate another team. As always at this time of year rumours are rife that "deals" are being done between teams where matches are "sorted" so as to accommodate one of the parties with a precious point or two. This abuse of the system may indeed happen in many counties and is difficult to police. Many players are now into their twelfth month of training! Yes, twelve months, and may well be scheduled for training in January or February of next year. Competitive club football within counties should clearly not be scheduled at this time of year. No excuses are good enough. The welfare of the Gaelic player and in turn the welfare of the GAA club are paramount yet the continuing plea of the grass root Gael appears to be falling on deaf ears. I believe there should be a two month closed period for all official GAA competitions, possibly mid-November to mid-January, with the onus on all county boards to have club competitions completed by the end of October. I know this may cause conflict at times between club officials and county team officials but it would be extremely beneficial to both in the long run if priority were now given to the nurturing of our clubs and the promotion of club competitions. I know some might say "well, it's alright for you to talk about clubs now that you have your All-Ireland medals", but these calls for the protection of our clubs are coming from the length and breadth of the country. Many counties have clubs at present who are active in club competitions yet have been idle for periods of four to six weeks in mid season when they should have been playing. Now that county squad training sessions have been curtailed for the months of November and December the next step should now be taken and do the same for our clubs. Following on from this topic (and to possibly further my point), it is good to see how the provincial and All-Ireland club competitions - for both male and female competitors - have grabbed the imagination and interest of the Gaelic world in general. Whether at senior, intermediate or junior level most counties have shown tremendous interest in the competition, and rightly so. It is a fantastic competition. The Ulster senior football final between Crossmaglen and Ballinderry was just one example of why this competition is so highly thought of. While both sets of players may have been over enthusiastic at times it was a true humdinger of a match with some fantastic passages of play. Some brilliant tackling, great scoring, high fielding, accurate passing and enough passion and commitment to make The Gladiator film look like a training video for Easyjet flight attendants. All the old warriors were there and the temperature just suited them fine. Just who'll win the replay is anybody's guess but in the drawn game neither team deserved to lose. Speaking earlier of the floodlit pitches lighting up the country at present, I may have been critical of the reason they are in use at this time of year, but what a fantastic advertisement they are for Gaelic sports and doesn't it truly reflect just how far we have come in recent years. Some of these floodlit grounds are state of the art sporting venues complete with modern changing rooms, clubrooms and spectator facilities. If this wasn't reflection enough of our recent advances DCU (ably assisted by the ever-progressive Peter Quinn) are in the advanced stages of designing an indoor, climate controlled, 10,000 seater gaelic football stadium! As 2008 draws to a close we can't help but get caught up in the festive rush despite the promises made in previous years that next year we will be taking it easy this Christmas. Rush or no rush, as long as Santa comes and everyone is happy then we can relax and no doubt reminisce on the year just past. For a Tyrone man reflection is good. Beards, comebacks and Sam. Not a bad year. There are, however, many other important occasions on which to reflect that may have had, or will eventually have, a significant impact on Cumann Luthcleas Gael The decision by delegates at Congress back in April to accept the 3.5 million euro government grants package for our county players was a momentous occasion and had followed quite a vociferous campaign from the anti-grant lobbyists. It signifies a change in the mindset of the old guard and suggests that the hierarchy of the GAA has adopted a more progressive approach to the actual promotion of our games. The magnificent Croke Park and lifting of restrictions on its use also confirm this. Hopefully the recent downturn in the economy won't prevent our players from receiving their grants this year. It is encouraging to see the GPA and the GAA backing each other on this issue. Dublin's request for a stand alone fixture between themselves and Tyrone in the All-Ireland quarter final in early August may well have contributed to their eventual defeat. In order to facilitate this request (which was a fair request aimed at catering for all the Dublin supporters) the fixture had to be put back a week thus giving Tyrone a much needed extra week after their tough encounter with Mayo and extending Pillar Caffery's waiting time to a month following their impressive dismissal of Wexford. It surely helped Tyrone but just how much we can only speculate. Despite their heavy defeat to Dublin the Wexford team also emerge as heroes of 2008 and in their manager, Jason Ryan, we surely have a candidate for "one-to-watch for the future". The recent highly publicised doping test of Aidan O'Mahony and the subsequent results brings to light just what some of our amateur players are expected to go through and magnifies the importance of the team doctor at county level. There are many important issues to be considered as a result of this case, not least of which is the way the matter was sensationalised in the media. Regardless of the outcome of Aidan's appeal, which thankfully will be heard before Christmas and will obviously confirm his innocence in any wrong doing, his name should not have been associated with any "drugs scandal" until the matter received due attention. Being an asthma sufferer he, through his team doctor, would have notified the Anti-Doping Committee of his use of salbutamol and would have continued to use his inhaler safe in the knowledge that all appropriate procedures had been followed. Perhaps he, like other asthma sufferers including myself, was unaware of the fact that there was certain limit of use to which he was restricted. Having been under the weather he probably would have used his inhaler a little bit more than usual thus resulting in the limit of salbutamol having been exceeded. While it is unfortunate for Aidan that he will be associated with this incident he is fortunate it is now in the closed season and it will have disappeared by the time the new season begins. It also begs the question what do we do to prevent this from happening again and also is it acceptable that amateur players are answerable to professional anti-doping standards? Tweet

Most Read Stories