Galway GAA games manager Dennis Carr is delighted that Pádraic Joyce, John Divilly, and John Concannon are eager to be involved in establishing a new blueprint to develop football in the county.
It is an encouraging time for the game Corribside with a busy weekend ahead. Carr, though, acknowledges the rich contribution being made by those involved in the senior managerial set-up.
"The Galway senior management has taken a huge interest in developing football in the county," Carr says. "John Divilly is helping to put a blueprint in place for Galway football from senior all of the way down to the academy."
Discussions are ongoing, but Carr is thrilled that they are ready, willing, and able to get involved. "We've had loads of meetings about it," Carr adds. "He has been super - John, he has been really good. They want to leave foundations behind them.
"I suppose they came through the U20 set-up, they see all of the good young lads so it is great that they are taking an interest with the expertise that they have at their disposal. They are trying to feed it all of the way down into the underage."
With vital matches occurring every weekend at all levels, this is a particularly exciting time for Galway GAA. "It is huge, loads of counties are looking at us asking what are we doing?," Carr says about the underage progress.
"We have been four out of the last seven All Ireland minor football finals, we have been in seven out of the last eight minor hurling finals. The LGFA and Camogie are flying it too. The GAA is huge in the county."
Carr also discusses the central roles being carried out by coaches for Galway GAA. "For a large number of years it was just Damien Coleman who looks after the hurling in the county, the former games manager Tom McManus who put in trojan work developing football in the county alongside Padraic Conroy," he says.
"Now the team has grown with four football GPO's - Jason Taniane, Isobel Flynn, Jack Hynes, and Galway captain Sean Kelly, and four hurling GPO's - Liam Gordon, Lauren Solan, Daithí Huban, and Cian Ryan - with Aidan Claffey overseeing all the athletic development in the county."
Galway GAA officers are carrying out vital work according to Carr. "As a dual county it is great that the hurlers and footballers are doing really well," he adds. "It doesn't happen in every county. That is testament to the board, anything we look for we get. Paul [Bellew] is the new chairman, Marc [Gottsche] is involved with the operations, everyone is rowing in the one direction.
"Mícheál Geraghty is the football chairman - former coaching officer too. Paddy Griffin is the new coaching officer - an academy coach, knows everything about hurling and football. We have probably the best admininstrator in the country in Séamus O'Grady - he is superb. They are all really supportive. Anything we look for we get with any initiative we are running."
