Do clubs listen to Timmy or Divisional Officers heading into the future

Many people feel that the month of December is a quite one in the G.A.A. Calendar.

Many of us know the opposite is in fact the truth, as Clubs, Divisional Boards and County Boards up and down the country take stock at their Annual General Meeting, or Annual Convention, where the year past is reviewed and for the year in ahead, plans are put in place.

Convention time for some is a headache. Lots of work has to be put in to prepare for it. You might have to second guess those that are attending the various meetings and have all the answers to the questions that might be asked at the meeting, and be quick enough to come up with what hopefully will be seen to be the right answer if something unforeseen comes up.

Convention is also a time where people are often interested to hear what the Chairperson and in particular the Secretary has to say.

Right throughout the year, the Chairperson is expected to remain impartial at meetings and when talking after games or to the media. In the main they do, but at times they take down their guard a little and let their personal feelings be known.

Secretaries are often even more cautious. They are often the one at a meeting, especially at a delegate meeting, that are only person that might not utter one word during the whole meeting, apart from confirming or denying something brought up during the course of a debate.

Convention allows both however to let their guard down somewhat and both are afforded the chance to give personal views on how they see the G.A.A. as a unit either as a Club, A Divisional Board or a County Board are going and give them the chance to let everyone know where they think changes could or should be made.

In Waterford, we have already had out two divisional conventions and this week the County Board meets to review the year that has passed and plan for the one ahead.

The report of the County Secretary is something that many look forward to. Some Secretary’s are very conservative and stick to the basics, while others are more forthright and are not afraid to suggest some hard calls should be made.

Sometimes we accuse (whether rightly or wrongly) Board Officers of all singing off the one Hymn Sheet. At times we have this belief that someone suggests something and Divisional and County Officers will row in behind each other, and that way when it comes to a vote if one is needed, the side that they fall upon are assured of a considerable amount of votes.

However, we cannot say this is the case in Waterford.

At the recent West Waterford convention, for the second year in a row, both the Chairman Eddie Cunningham and the Secretary Pat Grant has sent out a very clear message to club delegates.

With the past few years, there is a lot of talk about the Strategic Review that is purposed for Waterford. One of its expected proposal’s is the abolition of the Divisional Boards in Waterford and that everything would come under the umbrella of one body run on a county basis.

There is a sizeable amount of people that would be disapointed to see the Divisional Boards disbanded. They have been in operation for nearly ninety years, and officers past and present, as well as various club officials, again past and present, and people in general that have an interest in the G.A.A. argue that in these past nearly ninety years, that the boards have served the county well, and it is very hard for anyone to argue otherwise.

When the officers of the West Waterford Divisional Board met with club delegates at Lawlor’s Hotel in Dungarvan last week, there main message of the Chairman and Secretary was clear and simple ‘Hands off our Board’.

However, contrast their line of thinking with that of County Secretary Timmy O’Keeffe in his address to delegates attending County Convention this week.

This will be the Clashmore man’s fourth time to address delegates at Convention as the counties first full time secretary.

In previous years, he was not afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve when it comes to letting people know what direction he sees the G.A.A. should go, and I have no doubt the same will happen again in the future.

In the past, controversially in the eyes of some, with not having a stadium capable of holding a Munster Championship game in line with modern health and safety lines, he suggested that the Waterford County Board should enter into negotiations with their counter parts in Kilkenny about hiring Nolan Park for Munster Championship games, and then enter into home and away agreements with Cork, Tipperary and Limerick.

The forward thinking Clashmore man pointed out the benefits of such a move. A game with Tipperary would currently be staged in Pairc Uí Chaoimh. A game with Cork would be staged in Thurles and a game with Limerick would be staged in either Thurles or Pairc Uí Chaoimh.  

For these games, it was pointed out at the time that the County Board where the game is held gets a percentage of the gate receipts in rent. They also get to keep what ever money is taken in from the sale of adds for a programme and also from the sale of the Programme. Delegates were told that on average one programme is sold for every three people that pass through the turn styles, and if 30,000 were to pass through on a given day and as programmes are sold for between €3 and €5 a lot of money is there to be made. Clubs were also told that there is other ways of making money on match day.

Delegates were told that even if the Waterford County Board were to give their counterparts in Kilkenny a percentage of what they get in gate receipts there is still a lot of money to be made, money that the Waterford County Board could do with badly. Money that is currently going to the Tipperary and Cork County Boards all because we don’t have a home and away agreement with these two counties and with Limerick.

Not surprisingly, such a notion was shot down all too easily, mostly because of political reasons. Parish Pump Politics at its best came into play. People may not have thought about what was been said to them before they did their talking, or did they.

The Clashmore man in his address this year has some interesting things to say and it waits to be seen how they will be viewed.

Speaking to delegates, they are told that the results achieved by out County Intermediate and Junior Hurling Champions in 2012 were not as we would have liked, and the Clashmore man suggests that changes should be looked at.

“Last year I reported that we were in the process of preparing a Strategic Plan for the future development of the GAA in Waterford” clubs are told. “It was expected that the Plan would have been complete and published before this year’s convention but that has not happened” the Clashmore man adds.

“Over the next three months the Strategic Plan must be finalised” he says before adding “as I stated last year some radical changes will have to be contemplated. As a county we must continue (to) ask ourselves a lot of searching questions. History has shown that you have to adapt to change or get left behind. Irish society is changing rapidly and County Waterford is no different. Urbanisation and emigration will force us to rethink many of our structures”.

Questions have to be asked, the Clashmore mans says. “Why are our Intermediate and junior hurling county champions generally out of their depth in the Munster Club Championship, yet our senior champions are competitive?” clubs are asked.

“Since the Munster Club Intermediate and Junior hurling championship was introduced in 2003” delegates are told, “no Waterford team has won either competition. Cork (4), Limerick (2), Clare (2) and Tipperary (2) clubs have won the Munster Intermediate Hurling Club championship”.

“Waterford were represented on only one occasion in the final” clubs are reminded, that coming in 2005 when Ballyduff Upper reached the final. The club from the far west of the County two years later won the County Senior Championship.  

“A similar situation exists in Junior Hurling” Clubs are again told. “Cork, Clare, Limerick and Tipperary all have had winners since 2003. Our sole appearance in the final was by Tramore in 2004” the County Secretary points out.

“Clearly our intermediate and junior hurling standards need to improve” clubs are told. “We have to benchmark ourselves against the other strong hurling counties in the Province. One appearance in a final in a decade hardly tells a tale of high standards” Timmy O’Keeffe points out.

“For the GAA in the county to continue to prosper we must adapt and change and strive to be the best at everything we do!” clubs are told.

Interesting times lie ahead, especially as not everyone appears to be singing of the same hymn sheet when it comes to some matters pertaining to the future of the G.A.A. in Waterford going into the future.