National Forum

Funds for New York

(Oldest Posts First)

I think it is a bit rich that people from the New York County Board are complaining about counties from Ireland coming over there to raise funds thus reducing the amount of money available for the New York County Board.
Perhaps if they actually focused on developing and having a team of players either Born in New York or Irish actually living and working in New York rather than the usual group of mercenaries they put together of players that are disillusioned with their own counties back in Ireland people would see a point in supporting them. Teams all over the US have to fund raise and develop teams from within the communities they live in. I can tell you that there would be no interest from potential sponsors where I live in the US funding a team to fly in from Ireland on a junket to play as a pseudo team representing their community.
This farce should have been stopped years ago,

Dubfan Abroad (Dublin) - Posts: 282 - 31/05/2016 19:02:21    1860360

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You have a point. Personally I have no problem in teams going over fundraising. What I don't understand and has never been explained is how Irish inter county players get a fast route to NY or elsewhere so fast, fixed up with a job and place to stay. A regular person has to plan months in advance and jump through hoops. America is a very hard place to get a visa for.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11229 - 31/05/2016 19:36:28    1860364

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In my experience, the development of gaelic games abroad comes very low down in the list of priorities of the GAA hierarchy (and indeed they can actively stunt it at times). We international units are useful for them to have around for the purposes of a junket, however.

Though New York have a point about counties like Kerry (who are well funded enough as it is, at least in comparison with New York) coming out to fundraise, there is little that can be done from it a practical standpoint. In response to the OP, I would like to point out that it takes two to tango, and if Irish players didn't want to come, then NY wouldn't be able to tempt them.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 01/06/2016 10:11:49    1860436

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The fact that New York (and many "big" teams in the US) are using any funds they raise to "compensate" summer players should be acted upon by the GAA.
All funds raised should be used to promote the games among the communities the teams are in, and to develop youth games.

Dubfan Abroad (Dublin) - Posts: 282 - 01/06/2016 17:29:04    1860624

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Replying To Gleebo:  "In my experience, the development of gaelic games abroad comes very low down in the list of priorities of the GAA hierarchy (and indeed they can actively stunt it at times). We international units are useful for them to have around for the purposes of a junket, however.

Though New York have a point about counties like Kerry (who are well funded enough as it is, at least in comparison with New York) coming out to fundraise, there is little that can be done from it a practical standpoint. In response to the OP, I would like to point out that it takes two to tango, and if Irish players didn't want to come, then NY wouldn't be able to tempt them."
In my experience the development of gaelic games in Ireland comes very low down the list of GAA priorties...there is only one hurling club in Fermanagh..if you added all the clubs together from the Lory Meaghar counties you would hardly make 20 clubs..

In Cork city (where we are building an €80 million, 60,000 capacity stadium) two clubs have gone out of existence in the last 4 years - 4 more clubs are on the brink of doing the same..

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 01/06/2016 21:51:31    1860720

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Replying To bennybunny:  "In my experience the development of gaelic games in Ireland comes very low down the list of GAA priorties...there is only one hurling club in Fermanagh..if you added all the clubs together from the Lory Meaghar counties you would hardly make 20 clubs..

In Cork city (where we are building an €80 million, 60,000 capacity stadium) two clubs have gone out of existence in the last 4 years - 4 more clubs are on the brink of doing the same.."
I have no doubt that there are constituencies in Ireland that are under-served by the GAA, though you would also probably have to take into account the lack of tradition and desire to hurl in some of the places that you mention. Funny thing: there are more hurling clubs made up almost entirely of indigenous players in Germany alone than some of the counties you mention. New clubs often get feck all financial support as they set themselves up, so it all comes from volunteerism and passion for the games.

I would stand by my post- international units are subject to a lot of control and bureaucracy from central HQ, but it's hard to see what we get in return a lot of the time, other than an All-Ireland ticket every year (which is no longer guaranteed, due to the growth in the number of clubs). It's often hard to explain to the growing number of non-Irish GAA players why an organization based in Ireland, with whom we have little direct interaction, can wield such massive influence on how we conduct our competitions.

I believe that that the GAA at home don't really want the games to become popular abroad, as that would run the risk of upsetting existing power structures. But the hierarchy are happy enough to get a few all expenses paid trips out of us, all the same.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 02/06/2016 09:29:39    1860759

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Gleebo, I agree entirely with you.
Milwaukee Hurling Club buys more hurleys every year than any other club in the world. Hurling is the most popular sport among teams in the US outside of the big Irish American cities. Every year the teams from the Junior levels at the North American Championships who bring far more players and teams to the tournament and fund raise all year to do so, are regulated to the worst pitches available which are usually too small for juvenile teams and barely have any grass on them, while the mercenary teams from the likes of Boston or Chicago play on the one good field, the "A" field. In addition, all players attending the tournament from these Junior teams are required to pay $50-$60 entrance fee while the Mercenaries from Ireland are ushered in by the powers that be at no charge. We are given lip service by the visiting GAA dignitaries on the junket that we are doing great work and keep it up, if you need anything "let us know" which we are not sure what that means because we have never gotten anything.
Regarding the couple of All-Ireland tickets, when you do get them, they are not free either, every club has to pay for them. Not that I have a problem with that but the impression from those at home is that they are just given to us.
There are now more GAA teams outside of Ireland than in Ireland. There are more GAA members outside Ireland than in Ireland. There are unsung heroes developing our games with young foreign kids and adults who are far more passionate about Hurling Camogie and football than those mercanaries brought over by a minority of clubs in the "big Irish American Cities".
Trust me though, there is a movement gaining steam to move away from the governing bodies that supposedly run games in the US (and very badly at that) to setting up our own tournaments which will be run way better by actual people who are involved in these clubs, not just the usual heads from the "big Cities" where all levels are treated equally and tournaments run far more efficiently and fair.

Dubfan Abroad (Dublin) - Posts: 282 - 02/06/2016 15:00:57    1860909

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In addition, instead of the like's of say Leitrim/Dongeal etc GAA in NY pumping money into their clubs their to attract intercounty player for the summer....how about they pump their money into their club or county back home. We all know many counties are struggling. The big guys like Kerry, Mayo etc all get big funding from backer's in the US and elsewhere.

Otherwise they could invest in American born player playing the game because the only way the GAA will keep going in the US is if American born kids are playing. There are not near enough Irish moving to and living in the US on a permanent basis anymore due to visa restrictions.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11229 - 02/06/2016 17:09:26    1860956

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yew_tree your point is contradicting the argument here. Donegal in Ireland's main sponsor is a guy in NY. the problem seems to be that this money should be invested in the youth in NY instead of being sent back. personally I don't have a problem with where the money goes, as everyone has their own choice but with facilities in NY for GAA being terrible, it grinds a little to see Kerry coming over and raising $1milllion in one night.

NYCcavanman (USA) - Posts: 204 - 02/06/2016 17:43:02    1860964

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Replying To yew_tree:  "In addition, instead of the like's of say Leitrim/Dongeal etc GAA in NY pumping money into their clubs their to attract intercounty player for the summer....how about they pump their money into their club or county back home. We all know many counties are struggling. The big guys like Kerry, Mayo etc all get big funding from backer's in the US and elsewhere.

Otherwise they could invest in American born player playing the game because the only way the GAA will keep going in the US is if American born kids are playing. There are not near enough Irish moving to and living in the US on a permanent basis anymore due to visa restrictions."
Your point is a decent one Yew Tree, but I'd like to add one small qualification: any efforts to attract non-Irish people to gaelic games receives little support from the GAA, as a rule.

My club, for example is trying to reach out to the local community through coaching days in schools and other initiatives, but it's hard to do when you're running a small operation on a volunteer basis, also holding down your job during the day and dealing with other club matters by night. We do what we can, but time and resources are limited, and a little investment would help a huge amount. To be fair, there are grants etc. available, but these tend to emanate from governmental sources rather than An Cumann Luthchleas Gael.

In fairness, Europe has some very dedicated coaches who do several coaching courses across the continent every year. It also has (according to most estimates) about one-third non-Irish representation in its playing numbers, and more than eighty clubs, so the work is going in locally.

However, if you look around at other minority sports in this market, they devote far greater resources to building infrastructure and playing numbers (mostly through full-time coaches), and it shows in the growth of their sports. For example, we train on an all-weather rugby pitch which has floodlights and a lovely club house, with all the mod cons and a bar. Even the best-funded GAA clubs in Europe have nothing comparable. American sports like baseball, lacrosse, ice hockey etc. have made inroads here precisely because they have invested in doing so. They can also pre-plan their entire season schedule well in advance, which is a huge advantage over us.

I'd be of a mind to have a much looser affiliation to the GAA HQ, to be honest. One whereby we don't have to put up with the endless bureaucracy, pay affiliation fees that we don't see any return on, and where we have much greater autonomy to schedule our own fixtures as and when we want. One in which we don't get dragged back to places in Ireland to play in competitions only for international units, purely for the benefit of the Irish economy and no-one else. We also wouldn't have to subsidise people from back home on junkets who don't give a fig whether our clubs go under or not.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 03/06/2016 10:05:43    1861110

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Replying To Dubfan Abroad:  "Gleebo, I agree entirely with you.
Milwaukee Hurling Club buys more hurleys every year than any other club in the world. Hurling is the most popular sport among teams in the US outside of the big Irish American cities. Every year the teams from the Junior levels at the North American Championships who bring far more players and teams to the tournament and fund raise all year to do so, are regulated to the worst pitches available which are usually too small for juvenile teams and barely have any grass on them, while the mercenary teams from the likes of Boston or Chicago play on the one good field, the "A" field. In addition, all players attending the tournament from these Junior teams are required to pay $50-$60 entrance fee while the Mercenaries from Ireland are ushered in by the powers that be at no charge. We are given lip service by the visiting GAA dignitaries on the junket that we are doing great work and keep it up, if you need anything "let us know" which we are not sure what that means because we have never gotten anything.
Regarding the couple of All-Ireland tickets, when you do get them, they are not free either, every club has to pay for them. Not that I have a problem with that but the impression from those at home is that they are just given to us.
There are now more GAA teams outside of Ireland than in Ireland. There are more GAA members outside Ireland than in Ireland. There are unsung heroes developing our games with young foreign kids and adults who are far more passionate about Hurling Camogie and football than those mercanaries brought over by a minority of clubs in the "big Irish American Cities".
Trust me though, there is a movement gaining steam to move away from the governing bodies that supposedly run games in the US (and very badly at that) to setting up our own tournaments which will be run way better by actual people who are involved in these clubs, not just the usual heads from the "big Cities" where all levels are treated equally and tournaments run far more efficiently and fair."
There are now more GAA teams outside of Ireland than in Ireland. There are more GAA members outside Ireland than in Ireland. There are unsung heroes developing our games with young foreign kids and adults who are far more passionate about Hurling Camogie and football than those mercanaries brought over by a minority of clubs in the "big Irish American Cities".
Trust me though, there is a movement gaining steam to move away from the governing bodies that supposedly run games in the US (and very badly at that) to setting up our own tournaments which will be run way better by actual people who are involved in these clubs, not just the usual heads from the "big Cities" where all levels are treated equally and tournaments run far more efficiently and fair.

Dubfan Abroad (Dublin) - Posts:277 - 02/06/2016 15:00:57 1

Entirely agree. We were told last year that we couldn't organise friendly matches with other clubs without informing the regional county board and having a qualified referee present (and there are very stiff fines issued for contravening that rule). Now, while I appreciate that such rules are probably driven by mounting insurance costs these days, bringing over refs is a costly business, involving paying for their meals, accommodation and travel costs, all to play a friendly match against a crowd from down the road. The only way that people can be encouraged to play gaelic games is to have regular matches, but sometimes people in authority make it very cumbersome to achieve that.

A little more autonomy and flexibility for clubs (across the GAA, in general) would be very beneficial, IMO.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 03/06/2016 12:58:11    1861196

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