Can I throw this out there: ok look I'm not being sexist but the majority of posters here are male… also not being sexist but the Gaa as an organisation is primarily a Male driven organisation. However team wise both at club level and intercounty we have teams that are male/female. From what I have seen in Kerry the ladies teams are again mainly trained by males…. Can I ask in any county is there any senior male football team at club level currently coached or in the past coached by a female or will we ever see the day when an Inter County team will be coached by a female.

Ok I know that the ladies have their own Gaa Organisation and yes this is successfully run but I'm talking about the (male) Inter County Scene?

I am just thinking here from a Kerry perspective our ladies won was it 9 All Irelands in a row in the late 80's - this was an exceptional bunch of Gaa blinkered women, but still none made the move to the other side of the white lines…. Surely of that 9 years of success there was a fair few who had the football brain and capabilities.. or it is just not considered…. Are we that sexist in the Gaa?

The topic just came up in conversation over the weekend and I'd no answer for it…

Horsebox77 (Kerry) - Posts: 5491 - 18/10/2017 08:25:21    2055921

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 18/10/2017 10:48:14    2055959

I am sure there are women who would be capable of training a men's team.

They would have to work their way from the bottom up and prove themselves throughout the levels.

Realistically I'd imagine it would be tougher for them to get any coaching job versus a man with equal credentials as I feel there would likely be an element of sexism.

What is more legitimate though is that it's hard to compare the quality of s coach between the women's game and the men's game.

I can't see a man or a woman getting a job as an intercounty football manager based off of achievements within the women's game. I don't think that's sexist though. I think it's because of a realistic opinion that the ladies game is a very different competitive environment to that of men's football.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4210 - 18/10/2017 11:16:33    2055968

No chance.... I'll get my coat

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8586 - 18/10/2017 15:49:04    2056038

Hey guys,
I think as a female I can speek personly on the issue. When my son was playing miners with a club in Laois, I won't name the club if that's ok, well I offered to mange the team as an interested parent. Well to put it mildly I was told in no certain terms that it was really a male they wanted as I would not get the respect of the players as a female. I felt I had much to offer having played the game myself at under 12 level as a kid but after this rejection, it made me reluctent about getting involved again. Surly if they won't let females mange miners, how can females have any hope of manging adults?

Dee (Laois) - Posts: 312 - 19/10/2017 17:17:30    2056290

I believe female players/ex-players like Mags D'Arcy and Anna Geary (Sunday game) would be more than capable of coaching men the art of hurling is breed deep into them and their coaching credientails are far superior to a lot of so called high profile coaches. They would be far more eminently qualified than a host of Dub hurley's with little more going for them than high hopes and poor credentials. The fact is very few of you would even know the capabilities of the women in these sports. The other sad reality is that men utterly dominate the sidelines of ladies football/camogie at all levels of the club/inter-county. But I think a cohort of men have an inherent desire to bully/dominate to bluster and blow hard and it is driving players from the game and driving the games into the ground. I believe it is only a matter of time before the more qualified and professional females move into the men's sport we. In the meantime the dark ages still prevail in our sports were females are mere prey not leaders.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4895 - 19/10/2017 21:12:52    2056356

Surly if they won't let females mange miners, how can females have any hope of manging adults?

Dee (Laois) - Posts:303 - 19/10/2017 17:17:30

Well Thatcher set a bad precedent there in fairness...

if_in_doubt (Kildare) - Posts: 3685 - 19/10/2017 21:41:06    2056371

GaaGaa78 (UK) - Posts: 285 - 19/10/2017 22:10:53    2056390

Yeah and Churchill, Trump are setting a great image for men. Pointless forum that acts as a catalyst for justified sexism. Can't see how difference of anatomy affects our management capabilities? Have been along the line at many a matches and believe it or not us women can get and be as passionate, resilient and as tactical as men. Tell ye if some men knew as much as some of us women forgot you'd be doing well...

MissDownFanatic (Down) - Posts: 411 - 19/10/2017 22:21:09    2056401

Yeah and Churchill, Trump are setting a great image for men. Pointless forum that acts as a catalyst for justified sexism. Can't see how difference of anatomy affects our management capabilities? Have been along the line at many a matches and believe it or not us women can get and be as passionate, resilient and as tactical as men. Tell ye if some men knew as much as some of us women forgot you'd be doing well...

MissDownFanatic (Down) - Posts: 411 - 19/10/2017 22:31:39    2056408

Last year's Dublin U21 hurling team management was Joe Fortune (Naomh Mearnóg), Eimear Dignam (St Vincents) & Dwain Moore (Naomh Mearnóg). I remember seeing her on the sideline & she seemed to be very much the equal of the others regarding switches & substitutions. I'm sure Ann Downey from Kilkenny would be very capable of managing men's hurling teams. And, as was mentioned previously, Anna Geary & Mags Darcy are very astute regarding their punditry.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 20/10/2017 05:05:14    2056435

Never mind women managing men's teams, i think its much more important that ladies teams come to a stage where they're at the very least equally represented on the sideline. As it stands there's literally only a handful of women managing ladies teams.
In a world of sexism and by god we're hearing lots of it today i think the role of ladies in GAA (which is mens football) is always being highly appreciated. the steps are already being taken in GAA (without any big song and dance), we have referees, chair people in clubs and board members at the highest level and in fairness if and when the day comes that a woman takes the reigns as president of the GAA it won't be debated, it'll be celebrated or even better still it'll be just ignored as it will be just cool!!

theweanling (Cavan) - Posts: 414 - 20/10/2017 10:27:04    2056477

Apart from the obvious anatomical differences there are also a lot of other differences between men and women. One of these is that men in general are more ruthless and to manage a team of lads you need a certain temperament which the majority of women would struggle with. It is no coincidence that a lot of female sports teams have male coaches or managers in the same way it is no surprise that there are very few women who manage male teams. What people have to understand equality doesn't mean you just go down the line of trying to have equal representation in every walk of life. There are jobs and positions in life which are more suited to females than males and in these lines of jobs it is no surprise that they are totally female dominated i.e. the 'caring' profession if you like, Occupational Therapists, Social Workers, Mental Health etc are professions where you have 70%+ females in positions (some are up near 100%). This is because women are more emotional and probably have a lot more empathy that their male counterparts so are better suited to these types of jobs. Similarly, at the other end of the scale and the jobs which are heavily male dominated tend to be like trades jobs, mechanics, farmers etc, jobs which are more physically intensive.

In summary, men and women are not equal so why should we try and force equality on everything? Women are far superior to men in some aspect/things in life and on the flip side men are superior to women in others. I just find this whole notion that we have to have equal representation of males/females in everything now as ridiculous.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 20/10/2017 11:08:02    2056487

theweanling (Cavan) - Posts: 414 - 20/10/2017 12:08:32    2056526

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 20/10/2017 12:27:10    2056533

For the objective stuff - skills, nutrition and fitness coaching - that's mainly about knowledge. If the coach knows their stuff in those areas, it's doesn't make a scrap of difference whether you get that knowledge from a man, a woman or a robot. For the subjective stuff - dealing with different characters and working out what motivates different blokes - women will struggle to motivate blokes as they won't be able to get into their mindsets as easily and as noted may not be as ruthless.

essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 1141 - 20/10/2017 13:09:30    2056547

Women can't be as ruthless? Thatcher, May, Foster....need I go on? You afraid a woman might get emotional if she has to make a tough call? It's a game - there's women in paid positions that require them to be ruthless about literal life decisions. Even at that - all GAA managers aren't 'ruthless' by nature, do women have to compensate the fact they're a woman by being overally ruthless? Why's there no parallel debate on whether men should manage ladies football? If it's so hard for one sex to understand the other? To be honest I find this to be an absurd thread.

MissDownFanatic (Down) - Posts: 411 - 20/10/2017 16:45:13    2056632

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4895 - 20/10/2017 17:43:43    2056654

I could equally say you aren't very good at reading, interpreting and understanding if that is your conclusion but that wpuld just be my opinion.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 20/10/2017 19:59:10    2056695

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4210 - 21/10/2017 10:41:21    2056761