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Child Item

Does the GAA matter to you?

[Deleted User]

Over the years we've heard that old one about the influence of the GAA, from various sources described both glowingly and disparagingly. W've heard it referred to as a triumvirate with FF and the Church. So, does it matter to you, do you revel in the whole sense of identity with parish and origins, do you see it as a stranglehold on Irish sport and international identity?

For my part, I came from a family of blow ins in Kerry. I was the only son of 7 children born here. So as I grew up, I was far more interested in the fortunes of the Irish "soccer" team (I don't like that word, but it's useful here to distinguish the sports) and still follow League of Ireland. But in my 40s I kinda regret not getting more into GAA. Played it non stop as a teenager, captained club and school...but just never really got it at that age and dropped it in my 20s.

So...you see it as a cultural pinnacle or a dinosaur?

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Noveight

I'm a proud member of the bandwagon when it comes to the GAA. I rarely travel to fixtures but I watch all the senior championship matches every year, and occasionally a few league matches if they're televised.

I played up until U16 but I lost interest when a club amalgamation meant a 45 minute drive for training. I started working the same year and my summers are too busy now to rejoin the ranks, unfortunately.

It no longer really matters to me, but I do enjoy it all the same.

AllGunsBlazing

Can't watch it. It's all a bit frenetic for my taste.

But I am told by those who would know better than me that the skill level has gone steadily downhill since the 80's. Football, in particular being a shell of its old self, apparently?

StupidLikeAFox

AllGunsBlazing wrote: »

But I am told by those who would know better than me that the skill level has gone steadily downhill since the 80's. Football, in particular being a shell of its old self, apparently?

Couldn't be further from the truth. If you look at all those old games the tactics was to get the ball and hoof it up the pitch and hope that your man would beat the other man. Even some of the classics would be considered awful games by current standards.

Mick odwyer said his tactics with kerry in the glory years was that every man had a square of grass and if you thought the ball would land in your square it was your responsibility to win it, boot it, and then hopefully your teammate would win it wherever it landed. It's certainly evolved a lot since then, tactics, systems and concepts like game management have really become the norm.

elefant

AllGunsBlazing wrote: »

Can't watch it. It's all a bit frenetic for my taste.

But I am told by those who would know better than me that the skill level has gone steadily downhill since the 80's. Football, in particular being a shell of its old self, apparently?

As above, the skill levels in Gaelic Football are definitely miles, miles above what they were in the past.

The brutal physicality has been toned down a lot, and the importance of tactics has increased a huge amount. It has made the game more methodical, and means that lesser skilled teams can try and grind out a win against better opposition by employing tactics that are very negative.

I suppose that's not dissimilar to soccer at all!

BabyE

Nope, going to a school where the players were fawned over made me hate it. I just associate it with depressing sundays and the sunday game, I lived in America for the first years of my life, reckon if I stayed there, I'd love it.

Your Face

I watch it. Like the football.
Never bought into the GAA culture though.

Pac1Man

I never liked the culture or the influence it can have in certain areas. That's never a positive.

It's a bit like Scientology really.

elefant

BabyE wrote: »

Nope, going to a school where the players were fawned over made me hate it. I just associate it with depressing sundays and the sunday game, I lived in America for the first years of my life, reckon if I stayed there, I'd love it.

It can unbelievably parochial in small towns and communities alright. A bit exclusionary, cliquey etc. Like an Irish Friday Night Lights in some places.

In my experience, GAA clubs outside of Ireland tend to be much more inclusive, and have a much healthier type of camaraderie. The games can be very serious, but players of all skill levels seem to mix much more in training, and even players who didn't play in Ireland can get involved much more easily.

osarusan

I don't watch it when its on.

If the account of a friend of mine living in Skerries is anything to go by, they are still up to their old tricks - arranging training times to match training times for other sports so kids have to choose one over the other.

Her kid is 9 years old ffs.

andekwarhola

There's good people (including my extended family) involved in the sport (as with any other sport in the country) but would have serious issues with the GAA as an organisation. We live in a quite GAA area in Dublin and I never tried to influence my kids about what sports they play but I was secretly glad they opted not to join a GAA club.

As for the sports: I can't stand Gaelic football and hardly ever watch it but I enjoy watching Hurling and think it's a fine sport.

BabyE

osarusan wrote: »

I don't watch it when its on.

If the account of a friend of mine living in Skerries is anything to go by, they are still up to their old tricks - arranging training times to match training times for other sports so kids have to choose one over the other.

Her kid is 9 years old ffs.

I never get this whole thing about the GAA and its attempts to sabotage other sports. Even if it does, who cares? So some lad from Kerry won't become some millionaire footballer in England and Ireland won't be 2 higher places in the world rankings, Oh noooooo!

andekwarhola

osarusan wrote: »

I don't watch it when its on.

If the account of a friend of mine living in Skerries is anything to go by, they are still up to their old tricks - arranging training times to match training times for other sports so kids have to choose one over the other.

Her kid is 9 years old ffs.

The main schoolboy leagues in Dublin (like DDSL and SDFL) are following the League of Ireland to summer football from next year. Good move although might cause issues. Other sports have to get away from this pussyfooting around the GAA and let kids choose what they want to play. Some kids will be lost from GAA to junior (association) football and vice versa. Time to get over it.

Shenshen

I've absolutely no interest whatsoever.
It ranks just below tango competitions in Finland to me. And maybe just above darts.

BabyE

Shenshen wrote: »

I've absolutely no interest whatsoever.
It ranks just below tango competitions in Finland to me. And maybe just above darts.

I think the older I get the more I just get so annoyed at celeb worshipping. David Beckham getting cheered for showing up at Wimbledon simply because he looks slick :rolleyes: Beckham is cool enough so doesn't annoy me, but some random 'Dubs' player being fawned over just doesn't sit with me anymore, maybe jealously or just the fact its lame as ****. I had the displeasure of being in Coppers one night the Dubs decided to grace the place as a group. Dear lord:rolleyes:

chopperbyrne

As a Shamrock Rovers fan, I've seen first hand just how scummy the GAA can be as an organisation.

WesternZulu

justshane wrote: »

No, plenty of respect for the lads that train like full time athletes for amateur rewards but the organisation as a whole stinks. Corrupt to the core.

I really don't get how the GAA is 'corrupt to the core'?
The financial accounts of the GAA are freely available on-line so you can see exactly where the money goes.
The president of the GAA can only get paid the same salary as the job he previously had before becoming president. Therefore, you don't have guys like John Delaney in there earning 400k annually.

If you said backward I could understand as 30-40 years ago they could hardly have been described as the most progressive organisation in the world. However, that has changed and they have opened Croke Park for rugby and soccer. The GAA has also said they would open up other grounds if the rugby world cup is hosted in Ireland; without such an agreement there is no way Ireland could even contemplate holding such an event. They have also lifted bans on members playing other sports and not allowing british forces to play their games. They even had the Queen over for a visit!!
The organisation has changed beyond comprehension over the last 30 years in particular.

I love soccer as well but gaelic games are fantastic. People often say they don't mind the games but hate the GAA. Do you ever hear anyone say they like soccer and love FIFA or the FAI? In terms of a sporting organisation there are far more corrupt and frustrating organisations out there than the GAA.

Say Your Number

WesternZulu wrote: »

However, that has changed and they have opened Croke Park for rugby and soccer. The GAA has also said they would open up other grounds if the rugby world cup is hosted in Ireland; without such an agreement there is no way Ireland could even contemplate holding such an event.

But sure they did that for the money :rolleyes:

Could anyone who thinks the GAA is as bad as FIFA or IOC please name a GAA president who has spent over a decade in office surrounded by their cronies until they were eventually arrested for corruption.

How many white elephant stadiums are they responsible for that will be useless once one tournament will be finished, also how many migrant workers died in the re-construction of Croke Park.

HalloweenJack

Like pretty much all sports organisations, I have no time for them.

I love hurling as a sport to watch and play. Played it a lot at school but never with a club, preferred playing football at the weekends as football was frowned upon in my school.

Not particularly bothered about Gaelic football but will look at the scores every now and then.

I'm from Wicklow so it's not as if we have anything to get excited about with either team.

Tasden

I have no interest in GAA whatsoever. But i am jealous of the excitement and sense of community etc. supporters seem to have when they are going to big games and the likes.
I follow league of Ireland and there is the same kind of thing within that, just on a smaller scale I guess. So, like the op, I do sometimes think "maybe I should check it all out and try get involved" but then I watch a game and I just don't get it.

HS3

Poll selections are poor so haven't voted. GAA is important, as a sport I love watching it. It's also so easy to get the kids involved, Macra on a Sat morning is a fantastic step in. I just find it very cliquey and a bit egotistical.

My son does soccer and GAA. At the soccer, it's all organised and focused and very welcoming. My kid knew no one and started with people who were there years. But he was thrown in and cheered on as well as the others.

The GAA we've been going to for 3 years and still they don't know his name. I always volunteer to help at one of the stations and I get a mumbled thanks at the end of each session. The kids of parents already in the club get most of the focus and everyone else is background noise. The club seem to love the sound of their own voices and patting themselves on the back.

This is the year they all get picked for teams. My kid is so excited but I keep trying to manage his expectations. I reckon all the known kids will get picked and although he his very good, I think team selection will be a matter of who you know. Whereas with the soccer they're dying to get hold of him!

So yes GAA is important to me, but I think a bit of grounding would do them no harm!

demanufactured

No.

Calahonda52

Say Your Number wrote: »

You haven't been following the antics of FIFA or the IOC in recent times, the GAA are choirboys in comparison to those showers.

Perhaps not:
With commerce and elitism taking over, the GAA's sense of a shared journey is now an illusion
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/joe-brolly-winatallcosts-philosophy-has-destroyed-the-olympics-and-the-gaa-is-next-35000919.html

[Deleted User]

chopperbyrne wrote: »

As a Shamrock Rovers fan, I've seen first hand just how scummy the GAA can be as an organisation.

They really behaved terribly over the Tallaght Stadium.

Ososlo

No option for me on the poll. I hate it personally, but have nothing against what it stands for. I think that anything that gets people out playing any kinds of sports is a good thing.
I am from KK and it is really annoying when people just assume you love it and know all about it. I love it when KK lose for some reason. Never watched a full match.
My da would die for KK hurling so it's not as if wasn't part of my life growing up. My ma and all my sisters hate it too. I despise the commentary and commentator's voices, and the whole thing brings back a lot of unhappy childhood memories. Ugh...

HamsterFace

Deleted User wrote: »

They really behaved terribly over the Tallaght Stadium.

what's this?

mrsdewinter

HS3 wrote: »

Poll selections are poor so haven't voted. GAA is important, as a sport I love watching it. It's also so easy to get the kids involved, Macra on a Sat morning is a fantastic step in. I just find it very cliquey and a bit egotistical.

My son does soccer and GAA. At the soccer, it's all organised and focused and very welcoming. My kid knew no one and started with people who were there years. But he was thrown in and cheered on as well as the others.

The GAA we've been going to for 3 years and still they don't know his name. I always volunteer to help at one of the stations and I get a mumbled thanks at the end of each session. The kids of parents already in the club get most of the focus and everyone else is background noise. The club seem to love the sound of their own voices and patting themselves on the back.

This is the year they all get picked for teams. My kid is so excited but I keep trying to manage his expectations. I reckon all the known kids will get picked and although he his very good, I think team selection will be a matter of who you know. Whereas with the soccer they're dying to get hold of him!

So yes GAA is important to me, but I think a bit of grounding would do them no harm!

No option in the poll for me. The GAA represents exclusion to me: that's what it stood for in the village my family moved to in the 80s. The GAA 'was for' people who'd grown up there and whose fathers had played for the club years ago. At the time, I didn't really care as the whole organisation was really naff - but since the GAA suddenly got sexy a few years ago...

[Deleted User]

Deleted User wrote: »

They really behaved terribly over the Tallaght Stadium.

Hardly. The stadium should've been a multi-sports one. A huge loss for the people of Tallaght.

[Deleted User]

Deleted User wrote: »

Hardly. The stadium should've been a multi-sports one. A huge loss for the people of Tallaght.

It was never in question. A completely nonsense objection designed to stop another sport getting a facility. It would be like a swimming club objecting to the construction of a boxing club because there is no pool. Thomas Davis had received hundreds of thousands in grants, but they wanted to scupper Rovers getting public funds too. The GAA tried every stunt to stop it, including hugely expensive legal proceedings, both the Courts and the Minister told them they were way offside. They paid dearly, a legal bill of at least half a mill, proper order.

andekwarhola

Deleted User wrote: »

Hardly. The stadium should've been a multi-sports one.

In the last year alone, Tallaght stadium has had soccer (Rovers, Dundalk Champions league) American football, and Leinster rugby there. As well as other community events.

The stadium was always intended to be a multi-use municipal facility with Rovers as anchor tenants (for which they pay a handsome annual rent) but senior GAA games aren't played there because of the pitch size.

The court battle was over attempts to force the SDCC to incorporate a full size GAA pitch to the planning, which would have (due to the restricted geography of the ground, surrounded by two main roads, a county council park/depot and a secondary school) meant severely reducing the capacity of the stadium.

Tomas Davis CLG (backed by the DCB) were found out (by way of leaked communications) as knowing this but proceeding as a tactic anyway to try and prevent "the youth of Tallaght (being) restricted to a diet of association football". They duly lost the case.

Maybe acquaint yourself with the details of the stadium and court case before commenting?

GLaDOS

Tallaght stadium has hosted Rugby and American football so it's not exclusively soccer.