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Lack of funding means GAA in British schools is under threat
Wherever you travel in British GAA circles, the message is always the
same: “The kids are the future of GAA.”
Yet many children in Britain who have been inspired by watching Colm Cooper
or Dan Shanahan over the summer months and now wish to play the games
with their schools are being turned away as funding for schools GAA in
Britain has been cut dramatically.
For the last three years thousands of British children received basic
coaching in hurling and football through Cumann na mBunscol.
A full-time coaching officer for schools, paid for by a Díon grant,
worked with 25 different schools in groups of 60 at a time, meaning that
thousands of children are being affected by this move.
But with the funding now being administered by the Provincial Council
of Britain, money for schools GAA on these shores is not guaranteed for
this year.
And Cumann na mBunscol chairman Pat Morrissey told The Irish Post that
his organisation faces a crisis.
He said: “We are almost at the stage where we can’t afford
to pay referees or buy gear. We are fundraising as best we can but already
this year we have turned away three or four schools which have never had
GAA in them before and are very anxious to get it started, simply because
we do not have the money.
“We expect that the Provincial Council will release some money to
us but the problem is that schools come up with their curriculum in September
— if we can’t give them an answer then, they are likely to
go for a different sport in instead.”
Mr Morrissey says that he has been in touch with the Provincial Council
in recent weeks to find out about the funding his organisation would receive
but that no answer was forthcoming.
Mr Morrissey is the head teacher of Sudbury Hill Primary School and he
knows the value of children falling in love with GAA at a young age.
He said: “Obviously in a lot of schools the teachers are willing
to coach the games themselves but the quality of the coaching varies dramatically.
“All sports nowadays rely on having qualified coaches and the GAA
in Britain should be no different.”
Speaking in Birmingham last year GAA President Nickey Brennan told an
audience of Britain’s top GAA officials that British teams could
no longer rely on players coming from Ireland but instead should concentrate
on developing the talents of children of Irish ancestry born in Britain.
But with Christmas — the half-way mark of the academic year —
almost upon us, dozens of children across Britain who would like to be
playing GAA are not getting the opportunity to do so.
A spokesman for the Provincial Council of Great Britain pointed out to
The Irish Post that the issue will be discussed at a meeting of the council
on December 1. |
