Does the GAA matter to you?

Hugo Stiglitz · 31-08-2016 10:42AM

Good sport, but prefer other sports...

I'm not a sports man at all. Admittance of that destroys any conversation with fellas.

pumpkin4life · 31-08-2016 11:02AM

I like the G.A.A (nothing beats a good game of hurling), but there's something uncanny/slightly depressing (or is it just me?) about that lad who is absolutely obsessed with inter-county G.A.A and who knows and lives vicariously through every lad who plays at under 14 and who clearly has never exercised a day in his life with the big belly on him and finds it hard/looks down on lads who didn't see Jimmy O Toole's point against le Ballagh on Sunday.

Deise Vu · 31-08-2016 11:36AM

I love hurling and soccer and would watch a good competitive garlic football match like last Sunday's. I am not involved in a GAA club but one of kids plays football which takes me all sorts of exotic places like Fenor, Kill and, last weekend on a beautiful sunny day Ballycullane in Wexford.

What always strikes me is the amazing facilities, and the amazing enthusiasm of the coaches and parents. I can honestly say I haven't had even a remotely bad experience. The GAA really is the heart and soul of these communities and it is an organisation, in my opinion, that is an example to any sporting organisation in the world. Players literally play for their parish and their county and the entire organisation from top to bottom is run professionally. (Plus the president of the GAA gets a 3 year term - OCI please take note).

robbiezero · 31-08-2016 11:54AM

rainbow kirby wrote: »

I never played when I was younger - I was always really uncoordinated so struggled with most ball sports. My sister played football for years for a relatively strong club (Ballyboden St Enda's), but soccer was always her first love so she quit at 16-17 ish when she could start playing senior women's soccer.

I do enjoy watching both hurling and football though, I generally find hurling more entertaining despite being from a football county. That said, my absolute favourite sport to watch is athletics and I watch more soccer and rugby as well.

The organisation is absolutely rotten to the core though and represents quite a lot of things that are wrong with the country, there's also way too many links with the RCC at a local level particularly in rural areas.

Any examples for this drivel?
It represents quite a lot of things that are right with this country too.

pappyodaniel · 31-08-2016 12:20PM

A pillar of Irish society, to be placed alongside the 1916 Shrine

I live in a rural village where Hurling is like a religion, other sports are looked upon as secondary sports and are viewed in a paranoid sort of way. There's a lot of insular crap associated with the local GAA club but every now and again they surprise you.

A couple of months ago 5 Syrian refugee families were moved to the locality. I'd often see some of them out walking and some had young children. A few locals viewed our new neighbours in a paranoid way but the vast majority were indifferent. The few who were sympathetic were the "Right On" brigade but gave no practical support and would be overhead in the local cafes and public houses saying how great it all was.

Last week I was driving past the GAA club and I spotted a Syrian family interacting with a club official who was presenting them with bags of club merchandise. The next day I see the same family and their 2 kids are kitted out in club gear... jerseys, shorts & socks, even hurleys and helmets.

I thought it to be a very nice gesture and was actually proud of the local club in its efforts to help our new neighbours assimilate (or integrate) into the community.

feargale · 31-08-2016 12:44PM

Ambivalent

briany wrote: »

The county of Dublin does not consist solely of the city of Dublin. When you hear people stereotyping the county based on their view of the city, it speaks to a level of ignorance on their part, just as it would if a Dublin person were to characterise the entirety of Kerry as being a sparsely-populated patchwork of dairy fields and mountains. Like many counties around Ireland there is a rural/urban divide. The man from Killarney town certainly has more access to amenities in his immediate locale than someone living out the back of The Naul, or away out in Garristown, so is the former going to accuse the latter of being some highfalutin Dub or a skanger junkie?

Very true. I spent an evening socialising in Garristown many moons ago, and listening to the locals speaking I thought I could be in Cavan.

feargale · 31-08-2016 01:18PM

Ambivalent

rainbow kirby wrote: »

The organisation is absolutely rotten to the core though and represents quite a lot of things that are wrong with the country,

This stuff about GAA corruption keeps coming up with nobody giving any examples to substantiate it. One occasionally hears a story about a guy manning a turnstile trousering some of the takings but if that's proof of a corrupt organisation you may as well describe as corrupt every institution in the country that's ever been embezzled. Some of us are obviously missing something so could you enlighten us as to this rot at the core?

rainbow kirby wrote: »

there's also way too many links with the RCC at a local level particularly in rural areas.

You mean playing Faith of our Fathers before matches? The last time I heard it was at the Connacht final replay in 1969. Too many priests visible at games? Solution: "Sorry, we can't let you in. You're an RC priest." OK? Will that satisfy you?
One of the reasons why Protestants have been thin on the ground in the GAA is because traditionally they had problems about playing games on Sunday, and in the era of the six day week the GAA found it practical to arrange most of its activities on Sundays.
In the past the RC church had huge influence in Ireland for historical reasons. A politically disfranchised community will look to its religious potentates for leadership. You will find the same among Orthodox populations in the Balkans. Greece, Romania and Cyprus have all at one time or another had an archbishop as prime minister or president.. Tradition dies hard. But if your abiding vision of the GAA is of Christy Ring kissing some bishop's ring before a game you're living in the 1940s. By any chance would your real life name be Rip van Winkle?

eet fuk · 31-08-2016 07:25PM

Ambivalent

Deise Vu wrote: »

I love hurling and soccer and would watch a good competitive garlic football match like last Sunday's. I am not involved in a GAA club but one of kids plays football which takes me all sorts of exotic places like Fenor, Kill and, last weekend on a beautiful sunny day Ballycullane in Wexford.

What always strikes me is the amazing facilities, and the amazing enthusiasm of the coaches and parents. I can honestly say I haven't had even a remotely bad experience. The GAA really is the heart and soul of these communities and it is an organisation, in my opinion, that is an example to any sporting organisation in the world. Players literally play for their parish and their county and the entire organisation from top to bottom is run professionally. (Plus the president of the GAA gets a 3 year term - OCI please take note).

Mmmmm, I like the sound of this

:pac:

DEFTLEFTHAND · 31-08-2016 07:35PM

Ambivalent

It was nice walking through my town in Tipperary this evening and seeing all the blue and gold flags and bunting on the streets. It brings out great community spirit, everybody I speak to is on about the match on Sunday.

31-08-2016 07:36PM

A pillar of Irish society, to be placed alongside the 1916 Shrine

eet fuk wrote: »

Mmmmm, I like the sound of this :pac:

Been some tasty matches in it.

Autosport · 31-08-2016 07:37PM

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

I'm not a sports man at all. Admittance of that destroys any conversation with fellas.

Ah we still love ya

andekwarhola · 01-09-2016 07:11AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Alas, not as "trendy" as being a cultureless benighted troglodyte who persecutes their children with Harry, Ben, Emily and whatever other name is common in England and wouldn't be able to think beyond the local conservative anglophone school.

:pac:

Oh wait, you're being serious.

Macy0161 · 01-09-2016 07:25AM

Good sport, prefer it to others, but it's only a game

Hate the way it abuses the commitment of playes (well maybe all but the top players, who get the cushy jobs, a bit like Rugby pre professional era).

I really hate rule 42. It holds back all sports in the country, and especially in this state, that capital spending is split and we can't have top notch, multi-use facilities. Instead we have GAA grounds with limited facilities, football clubs with limited facilities, athletic clubs scrambling for facilities, and at village (or parish :rolleyes: ) level it's the same children compromised in every sport.

Hate the hypocrisy of rule 42 as well. American Football ok. Boxing is ok. It's ok for the GAA to use other field sports grounds around the world. It's ok for GAA county teams to use other sports grounds for training when location suits etc. A football team using a GAA ground? We'll hold it against the club for years, like that club that facilitated Galway United.

Don't mind Hurling, but GAA Football just has the same roots as football and rugby. It's basically a made up game to be different from the world game, or foreign game, of football.

Hate the way that every sporting success has to be tied back to when someone played underage GAA. A 30 year old professional rugby player who's been in their coaching system since they were a teenager can only catch because he played underage GAA? Yeah, never practiced catching at all in all the hours of full time rugby coaching. Top surfer? Can only catch a wave due to that couple of years in nursery. Surprised there hasn't been some claim on the rowers.

There's good people volunteering at grass roots of the GAA (as there is in every sport, not that you'd think there was volunteers in other sports the way some go on), but once you get to committee levels even within clubs, the insular/ superiority complex mentality begins to take over.

I will say my own children play GAA. I've helped out with them. I think children should be encouraged to play all sports, including GAA.

WesternZulu · 01-09-2016 08:48AM

Macy0161 wrote: »

Hate the way it abuses the commitment of playes (well maybe all but the top players, who get the cushy jobs, a bit like Rugby pre professional era).

How does it abuse players? There is no great desire from the players to get paid. No one is forcing someone to play by putting a gun to their head. I don't see where there is an abusement.

Macy0161 wrote: »

I really hate rule 42. It holds back all sports in the country, and especially in this state, that capital spending is split and we can't have top notch, multi-use facilities. Instead we have GAA grounds with limited facilities, football clubs with limited facilities, athletic clubs scrambling for facilities, and at village (or parish :rolleyes: ) level it's the same children compromised in every sport.

It's hardly the GAA's fault that other sports don't have better facilities. I agree it could be a good idea in an ideal world. However, you see very few soccer and rugby clubs share facilities at any level (and they share the same pitch dimensions) so why are you just blaming GAA for there not being multi-use facilities in this country? I feel the reason that there isn't is for practicality reasons more so that anything else. Trying to organise training and games on one pitch for 3 sports for a multiple of age groups for males and females would be a nightmare.

Macy0161 wrote: »

Don't mind Hurling, but GAA Football just has the same roots as football and rugby. It's basically a made up game to be different from the world game, or foreign game, of football.

This old chestnut, tell me a sport that isn't made up? All football codes probably evolved from essentially a catch and kick game before each respective one set down their own individual rules in the late 19th century. It could be argued that gaelic football is more like the original catch and kick games and therefore less 'made up' than the other sports. Not that it matters, as I said all sports are made up and all football sports have essentially the same roots.

diomed · 01-09-2016 11:15PM

Good sport, prefer it to others, but it's only a game

This is on the GAA Rule 42 Wiki page.
"Rule 42 (now Rule 5.1[1] and Rule 44[2] in the 2008 guide) is a rule of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) which in practice prohibits the playing of non-Gaelic games in GAA stadiums. The rule is often mistakenly believed :rolleyes: to prohibit foreign sports at GAA owned stadiums."

It took me a time to unravel the logic but this is what I got from it "You can also play foreign invented Gaelic games in GAA stadiums."

Not many foreign invented Gaelic games come to mind at the moment.

Dick phelan · 01-09-2016 11:39PM

Love it tbh think it's one of the best things about the country, it brings a spirit of community like nothing else i can think of, i played a lot of hurling from an early age and met some wonderful coaches and volunteers who gave up lots of their free time, Outside of ireland the GAA is a great connection to home for the irish diaspora, nothing like being thousands of miles away sitting in a bar watching your county play surrounded by other irish people. I'm moving away from ireland for a job in a few weeks, come next summer going to matches will be something i'll seriously miss. I'm sure there's a lot of nonsense that goes on with administration ect like in all sporting and non sporting bodies in this country but have to say i think this idea that the GAA is corrupt is an unfair accusation especially when you compare how it is run to the FAI or OCI ect.

buried · 01-09-2016 11:46PM

This weekends All Ireland Hurling Finals are going to be wall to wall utter craziness. Especially the Senior one. I don't understand how people who are in the position to spectate this absolute form of frantic entertainment on TV can't get some enjoyment out of it. I'm going to enjoy the $hit out of it anyways and I'm a Galway man. I'm also sticking 50 euros on the result to be a draw at 15/2. Join me in the quest for riches and authentic Irish craic!

Dick phelan · 02-09-2016 12:23AM

Regarding the argument that if there was no GAA we'd win more medals at the olympics ect Yes we would be slightly better but not in a million years would i sacrifice hurling of Gaelic football for an extra 2-3 medals every four years, don't really think it would have the effect people really expect, The facilities still wouldn't be there if the GAA didn't exist, we might have a better football team but hardly good enough to actually win anything in international soccer so again would it really be worth it? What GAA does better then anything in this country is create a community spirit, in a world that is becoming increasingly individualistic i think it's great we have something like the GAA.

StupidLikeAFox · 02-09-2016 12:34AM

Dick phelan wrote: »

we might have a better football team but hardly good enough to actually win anything in international soccer so again would it really be worth it? .

I don't think we would to be honest. Young lads who are good at sports will always play a few when they are young, and if they show any promise at all they can go the soccer route. Seams Coleman and Shane long are the obvious examples, but I know a few lads who had trials in England when they were young, didn't make it, and fell back to the gaa. I don't think the GAA ever stood in the way of some guy becoming a top soccer star tbh

Dick phelan · 02-09-2016 12:51AM

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

I don't think we would to be honest. Young lads who are good at sports will always play a few when they are young, and if they show any promise at all they can go the soccer route. Seams Coleman and Shane long are the obvious examples, but I know a few lads who had trials in England when they were young, didn't make it, and fell back to the gaa. I don't think the GAA ever stood in the way of some guy becoming a top soccer star tbh

No but i mean instead of playing both GAA and soccer when they are young if they focused 100% on soccer from the start they might have been slightly better players.

andekwarhola · 02-09-2016 06:19AM

WesternZulu wrote: »

It's hardly the GAA's fault that other sports don't have better facilities. I agree it could be a good idea in an ideal world. However, you see very few soccer and rugby clubs share facilities at any level (and they share the same pitch dimensions) so why are you just blaming GAA for there not being multi-use facilities in this country?

It's unfair to say a level playing field always existed in Ireland in terms of help, patronage and facilities. Other sports never had the historical Church/Establishment patronage that the GAA had, especially in rural Ireland.

Even now, the organisation enjoys significant (usually local) political patronage and all that entails in hoovering up grants and so forth.

Now, obviously they're indigenous sports so that's to be expected but it needs to be borne in mind when we have these constant homilies about the great landbanks, grounds and funds vs that of non-indigenous sports.

That said, the likes of the FAI hardly help themselves with their cronyism and incompetence but I doubt you'll find many football supporters and activists in the country that would disagree with that.

philstar · 18-09-2016 10:43AM

so who's playing today? do i have to watch it? do i have to pretend that i have an interest in it?

will i be sneered at if i said i'd rather watch paint dry?.....( i always feel awkward on all-ireland final days)

HamsterFace · 18-09-2016 10:46AM

Watch it or don't. No one cares what you do.

robbiezero · 18-09-2016 10:47AM

philstar wrote: »

so who's playing today? do i have to watch it? do i have to pretend that i have an interest in it?

will i be sneered at if i said i'd rather watch paint dry?.....( i always feel awkward on all-ireland final days)

I doubt that many people give a crap what you think, so don't worry about it. As long as you are not ruining it for other people, do and watch what you like.

Sono · 18-09-2016 10:47AM

philstar wrote: »

so who's playing today? do i have to watch it? do i have to pretend that i have an interest in it?

will i be sneered at if i said i'd rather watch paint dry?.....( i always feel awkward on all-ireland final days)

Attention seeking, just ignore it if you don't like it, no one cares.

Barry Badrinath · 18-09-2016 10:48AM

philstar wrote: »

so who's playing today? do i have to watch it? do i have to pretend that i have an interest in it?

will i be sneered at if i said i'd rather watch paint dry?.....( i always feel awkward on all-ireland final days)

Two teams
No
No
No

andekwarhola · 18-09-2016 10:49AM

philstar wrote: »

so who's playing today? do i have to watch it? do i have to pretend that i have an interest in it?

will i be sneered at if i said i'd rather watch paint dry?.....( i always feel awkward on all-ireland final days)

You've no time for it. That junior cert won't sit itself next year, young man.

shamrock55 · 18-09-2016 10:51AM

Good sport, prefer it to others, but it's only a game

Not in the slightest,I played from under 10 to under 21, but have zero interest now

Elliott S · 18-09-2016 11:11AM

Ambivalent

I follow it and mostly like the movement. But there are elements I don't like. My OH was telling me that when he was 13, 14 years old and playing GAA underage for his local club, there'd be grown men on the sidelines belittling anyone on the pitch who made any kind of error. Like, shouting really nasty stuff at them. Grown men shouting at young teenage boys, the kind of men whose own GAA dreams went nowhere, barstool heroes. I've heard of this happening to other people too and it is a facet of the GAA that I really hate.

Jesus. · 18-09-2016 11:25AM

Ambivalent

Widdershins wrote: »

I am also a blow-in and used to really dislike the GAA because all of the ignorant so and so's were in it and their lives revolved around it, giving it a bad reputation in my eyes.

Gah heads are arseholes alright. Anyone who's into their own little thing with no knowledge or respect for others who do or like different things are clowns.

Does the GAA matter to you?

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