Too often people can be overly critical of those who stand up and take the bull by the horns and do tremendous work at a local and community level. And the GAA is nothing if it is not a community based association.
You will always have the hurlers on the ditch who have all the answers and solutions, but who do no work. They are like some sex therapists. They know all the positions, but don’t even have a partner.
At least those who let their names go forward to work on county boards and at club level are prepared to do a lot of unglamorous work for little, if any, reward. The next time you are slating someone - a referee or county board official - ask yourself the simple question: Would I do their job?
Last Monday I attended the football board convention in the board’s resplendent centre of excellence out in Loughgeorge. It was a fabulously run convention and the centre looked top-class.
The board returned a surplus of income over expenditure of €180,000 - which is a terrific achievement in the current climate.
Nothing was left to chance - fresh fruit on the table, a roving microphone for speakers, well-presented accounts. The whole evening left a feel good feeling for all in attendance and credit must go to those who organised the event and their families. Such preparation and organisation does not happen without serious work behind the scenes.
If our teams are as professional and organised as the AGM was last Monday, then there should be success on the playing fields at all levels in 2009.
