Underage GAA in Britain in crisis
 By David
Thorpe
There needs to be a massive improvement in the underage structures of
the GAA in Britain according to the President of the Association Nicky
Brennan.
Mr. Brennan also called for better financial management as a matter of
urgency if Gaelic games are to develop here.
Representatives of every County minor and senior board in Britain were
at Pairc Na hÉireann in Birmingham last Wednesday to hear Mr. Brennan
and other senior officials from Croke Park outline the challenges faced
by the GAA in Britain and Ireland in the coming years.
Mr. Brennan told the conference that the time had arrived in the GAA,
particularly in Britain, where some of the money which is currently being
spent on preparing senior inter-county teams needs to be redirected into
youth development.
He said: “Massive amounts of money are being spent throughout the
association on managers and mentors for county teams that brings only
short-term benefits and the underage structures need to be improved.
“Young players have a lot of choice as to what sport they play,
and we have to make sure that the young people of Britain who are interested
in playing GAA are not put off by poor facilities or a lack of coaching.”
The conference heard how the London County Board have a part time hurling
coach who has access to only 30 hurls and helmets for the entire schools
coaching area in London.
Another principal theme of the meeting was the need for an improvement
in the financial and accounting structures of county boards in Britain.
Mr Brennan said: “Millions are being spent on coaching and games
development at the moment but we have to make sure it is being spent wisely.
“With regard to Britain there is money available from central council
but it will only be allocated if we can see specific plans for how the
money will bring benefit to the GAA.”
In what was a wide ranging contribution to the meeting from the current
GAA president he added: “In terms of income the GAA nationally has
probably reached its peak but our costs continue to rise so we have to
make sure that money is not being wasted.
“Proper procedures will have to be followed whenever money is being
drawn down, proper budgets will have to be prepared for everything and
county board accounts need to be assessed on a monthly basis, rather than
in the somewhat ad-hoc fashion that is the practice in some counties.”
The idea of this conference in Birmingham was first mooted at the last
annual congress of the GAA.
Speaking afterwards Mr. Brennan said that it was a successful meeting
and that the next stage would be to meet with county boards on an individual
basis to assess their needs and see how the GAA at national level could
help the development of Ireland’s national games in Britain in the
coming years.
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