Does the GAA damage us globally?

beach_walker

Bracken81 wrote: »

Ah the GAA......a place for people, who were no use at Football, Rugby, Boxing, etc..........before finding their home on the GAA field!

So the GAA is the reason we under-perform at international level... yet it only hosts the rejects of said international sports... Right.

toxicity234

Aw.
This stuff again.
Ok. Lets ban all sport apart from soccer when that way went we don't get to a world cup we can all cry together.
and if you want to make the argument by just removing soccer and insert any sport you like.
Pointless.

Joe prim

Bracken81 wrote: »

Ah the GAA......a place for people, who were no use at Football, Rugby, Boxing, etc..........before finding their home on the GAA field!

I fear you have never witnessed a Wicklow county final sir!

Gyalist

biko wrote: »

To answer the OP - no, GAA doesn't rob anyone of cricket talents.

I won't be too sure of that. There are two brothers currently on the Dublin Minor hurling panel who were outstanding youth cricketers. One represented Ireland at U15 and U17 level and would have been a sure pick for the next U19 World Cup, the other represented Leinster at U13, U15 and U17 and would have also had a good chance of making the international team.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

There are only 10 rugby playig nations in the world so if you happen to be probably the only one of the ten where it is your number 1 sport then they have a fairly good chance of being the bets at it.

osarusan

Damage us globally? What does that mean?

I think it's fair to say that we would lose fewer football/rugby players to GAA if GAA didn't exist/wasn't as popular as it is, but that goes both ways and the players make that choice.

You can debate just how much of an impact it has on the rugby/football teams, but either way, 'damage' doesn't come into it for me, at least not in the sense mentioned in the OP.

EndaHonesty

lawlolawl wrote: »

Indeed. Look at Conor Mc Gregor.

Arguably one of the most internationally recognizable and successful Irish athletes alive and he got there by himself with no state funding or support.

Conor McGregor was on the dole until he turned pro, so one could say he received quite a lot of state funding and support...

old_aussie

Samaris wrote: »

Ireland has a small population base (as already noted), other sports generally more important to them and just probably won't have the range of opponents in training that people living in bigger countries will to hone their skills.
.

Two words shoots ya argument down...New Zealand

pgj2015

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

There are only 10 rugby playig nations in the world so if you happen to be probably the only one of the ten where it is your number 1 sport then they have a fairly good chance of being the bets at it.

There are 102 rugby playing nations in the world.

http://www.worldrugby.org/rankings/mru

endacl

pgj2015 wrote: »

There are 102 rugby playing nations in the world.

http://www.worldrugby.org/rankings/mru

102? And we're in the top 10? The OP may have the auld chip on the wrong shoulder altogether...

:pac:

Anita Blow

Don't have much interest in watching football/hurling myself, but you'd have to have a serious chip on your shoulder to try and play down the enormous good GAA has done for the country and continues to do.
I would rather take all the social benefits the GAA has brought to rural and urban communities over achieving a quarter place relegation in the Euros any day. If the FAI is so concerned with GAA draining the talent from them, then maybe they should increase their funding for school sports to match GAAs rather than trying to reduce the GAA's investment.

Samaris

irishguitarlad wrote: »

And GAA has no politics?

Oh, I'm absolutely sure there is! Just when big money is involved, it brings in its own host of politics on top of the usual intra-group/inter-group politics.

old_aussie wrote: »

Two words shoots ya argument down...New Zealand

New Zealand was brought up before, and I don't know if it's been explained in here or not. At a wild guess, I would assume that it is a bigger part of their culture. The points I raised were all contributors rather than any single one explaining everything.

realdanbreen

ClovenHoof wrote: »

Watching Portugal win last night, as well as the exploits of Wales, Norn Iron and Iceland should finally put to bed this myth of Ireland (this part) punching above our weight in international sports. From the olympics, to rugby to soccer we are not anything special.

Does the GAA creating a mindset that the local inter parish final being the pinnacle of human sporting achievement rob us of athletes who could represent Ireland on the international stage by effectively ghettoising them at a very young age?

There are still numerous secondary schools around the country where the.principle is a "real GAA mam" and kids are basically unofficially banned from other codes. All the money, attention and favours go to the gaa kids. More importantly it creates a pathological "big fish, tiny pond" mentality.

I never heard any commentator of renown say we punch above our weight in soccer.
As for rugby we have won championships and a grand slam in recent times.
Anyway if our GAA men packed it in and played rugby there wouldn't be enough steroids to go around.

gigantic09

Would I like to live in a world where I wouldn't see an Offaly jersey at the top of Alpe D'huez or or a Mayo jersey at Rae's Creek on Augusta national?.No sir I wouldn't thank you for it.

jmayo

s4uv3 wrote: »

Nope.

The GAA trains, educates, and nurtures a huge amount of our young kids, giving them physical and emotional tools that will carry them well in adulthood.
It does not foster a culture of diving to the ground and rolling around screaming while holding a leg that nobody hit, and earning millions of euro a year for doing so.
GAA does so much more good than harm for sport in Ireland it's not even questionable tbh.

People who hate the GAA are usually just bitter over some grievance.

The GAA has done a lot in local communities, but it has also fostered some amount of bigotry in it's day as well.
I even know of officials that will screw their own club with the county board because someone in the club did a favour for local soccer club.
What these muppets fail to realise is that players, parents and volunteers are often shared in the one small community.

And as for your jibe about soccer and sportsmanship, I have seen what often passes for sportsmanship in GAA where players have been sucker punched and elbowed in off the ball incidents.
Closed swelled black eyes, broken jaws, lost teeth, concussions, etc.
Then everyone gets amnesia and if anything is said or even shown in images the old "manly and physical game" shytelology is brought out.

Also the treatment of referees can often be appalling and I sometimes find it surprising that anyone volunteers for the job.
Granted soccer is also afflicted with this ailment and they could both learn a lot from rugby in this regard.

gigantic09 wrote: »

Would I like to live in a world where I wouldn't see an Offaly jersey at the top of Alpe D'huez or or a Mayo jersey at Rae's Creek on Augusta national?.No sir I wouldn't thank you for it.

Doesn't count if they didn't write Mayo for SAM on one of the greens.

topmanamillion

pgj2015 wrote: »

There are 102 rugby playing nations in the world.

http://www.worldrugby.org/rankings/mru

A bit like saying there's 100 countries in the world where GAA is played.
The UAE aren't going to put a side in the All Ireland any time soon.

super_furry

Kind of like Kilkenny in hurling, a small nation like New Zealand can become world leaders in a sport if they focus on just one sport. We're split across Football, GAA, Hurling and Rugby in Ireland.

RayM

I think rugby damages us globally. I have no evidence for this, but I do have an irrational hatred of the sport and all who sail in it. And that's good enough for me.

endacl

super_furry wrote: »

Kind of like Kilkenny in hurling, a small nation like New Zealand can become world leaders in a sport if they focus on just one sport. We're split across Football, GAA, Hurling and Rugby in Ireland.

We're not split at all. Some like and play more than one. Some play other things.

This bit not aimed at you, just an observation:
These conversations somehow always come down to "I really really want Ireland to be good at soccer because I like soccer oh why oh why can't they be good at soccer sometimes they look like they might be a little bit good at soccer and then it turns out they're not really all that good after all. Must be somebody's fault. I know! GAA! Yeah!! They have loads of people who are really good at the thing that they do it must be their fault if it wasn't for the feckin' GAA scooping up all the sporting talent then more people from Ireland would be good at the thing I want Irish people to be good at because it's the thing that I like!"

wakka12

Whats wrong with promoting our local sports over international sports? The whole world will just be all the same if we do that. I think its amazing that Ireland is as into its native sports now as they ever were, not many countries can say the same thing. And its not like anyones forcing you to play them, people can play any sport there like. But you want emphasis to be specifically placed on other sports to improve our international sporting image?noo

Lt Dan

jmayo wrote: »

The GAA has done a lot in local communities, but it has also fostered some amount of bigotry in it's day as well.
I even know of officials that will screw their own club with the county board because someone in the club did a favour for local soccer club.
What these muppets fail to realise is that players, parents and volunteers are often shared in the one small community.

And as for your jibe about soccer and sportsmanship, I have seen what often passes for sportsmanship in GAA where players have been sucker punched and elbowed in off the ball incidents.
Closed swelled black eyes, broken jaws, lost teeth, concussions, etc.
Then everyone gets amnesia and if anything is said or even shown in images the old "manly and physical game" shytelology is brought out.

Also the treatment of referees can often be appalling and I sometimes find it surprising that anyone volunteers for the job.
Granted soccer is also afflicted with this ailment and they could both learn a lot from rugby in this regard.



Doesn't count if they didn't write Mayo for SAM on one of the greens.

Soccer was full of bigotry as well. Back before Dublin split with the IFA, Cup Finals would take place in Belfast and Dublin , each taking turns. Belfast refused , blaming the violence in the South. IRFU still continued as normal. IFA is well known for bigotry and two well known nationalists who played for Northern Ireland have had their lives threatened

If your GAA club has been exposed to complete lack of civil respect by British Army and by other communities, one kinda takes a certain attitude - I am sure you are familiar with Crossmaglen. There are many more horror stories.

Sports clubs are entitled to look after their own and promote their own sports

As for the GAA violence, yep, is it ghastly, but not always "bigotry"

Don't blame the sport or the majority of people involved in them who do not behave like idiots and thugs

pgj2015

topmanamillion wrote: »

A bit like saying there's 100 countries in the world where GAA is played.
The UAE aren't going to put a side in the All Ireland any time soon.

Do the UAE have an international GAA team? didn't think so.

fryup

Gaelic Games should be outlawed we should be concentrating on international sports..not that insular backward muck

thegreatgonzo

Lt Dan wrote: »

I think the horse racing industry whether jockey,trainer,breeders and owners do more than relatively okay even away from Ireland and UK

You said it. Ireland is world class. A lot of Boards people don't seem to know this though.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Bigus

Unfortunately soccer seems more of a business than a sport these days , overpaid divas and none too exciting to watch , never mind the corruption , brought on by too much money slushing about the business.

SO yes,roll on the GAA that gives every participant a chance at a game no matter what level skill they have and the manager doesn't just care or invest time in finding next Ronaldo or Messi.

kupus

pgj2015 wrote: »

Do the UAE have an international GAA team? didn't think so.

They kinda do actually. As have Dubai, Myanma, Singapore and others and they competed in the international gaa games held in Abu Dhabi last year.


So there you go. You learned something new today. Enjoy the day day that's in it. And maybe one day too you can play for Singapore celts in the gaa world games.

keith16

fryup wrote: »

Gaelic Games should be outlawed we should be concentrating on international sports..not that insular backward muck

You want to know what's insular? You, and your pathetic view of Ireland. It's so inward looking and you don't even fucking realise it.

daveharnett

To me, sport is about fun, fitness, positive competition and (most important from a public health POV) participation.

It doesn't matter which nations best 0.01% are better built/coached/doped than the others. That's showbiz, not sport.

If the GAA's players are fit and having fun, then all is well.

Idbatterim

Watching Portugal win last night, as well as the exploits of Wales, Norn Iron and Iceland should finally put to bed this myth of Ireland (this part) punching above our weight in international sports. From the olympics, to rugby to soccer we are not anything special.

sorry, when did northern ireland or wales last qualify for a tournament before this one?! The republic are almost always these or thereabouts come the end of the qualifying campaign...

Fratton Fred

super_furry wrote: »

Kind of like Kilkenny in hurling, a small nation like New Zealand can become world leaders in a sport if they focus on just one sport. We're split across Football, GAA, Hurling and Rugby in Ireland.

New Zealand were runners up in the one day cricket world cup and won the Rugby world cup the following year.

pgj2015

kupus wrote: »

They kinda do actually. As have Dubai, Myanma, Singapore and others and they competed in the international gaa games held in Abu Dhabi last year.


So there you go. You learned something new today. Enjoy the day day that's in it. And maybe one day too you can play for Singapore celts in the gaa world games.

its not the same at all, there are 102 proper international rugby teams, there are not any other real international GAA teams in the world, any international GAA teams that are not Ireland will be teams made up of Irish people and are not proper international teams.

lawlolawl

Bigus wrote: »

Unfortunately soccer seems more of a business than a sport these days , overpaid divas and none too exciting to watch , never mind the corruption , brought on by too much money slushing about the business.

SO yes,roll on the GAA that gives every participant a chance at a game no matter what level skill they have and the manager doesn't just care or invest time in finding next Ronaldo or Messi.

You must be delusional if you actually believe any of that.

The GAA isn't about money? All Ireland tickets are 80 quid a pop.

And GAA teams don't try to find and play the best players? Sure Brian Cody et al just run out whatever crowd of young fellas who show up looking for a game.

dirtyden

Fratton Fred wrote: »

New Zealand were runners up in the one day cricket world cup and won the Rugby world cup the following year.

They cant hurl for ****e though.

Junkyard Tom

fryup wrote: »

Gaelic Games should be outlawed we should be concentrating on international sports..not that insular backward muck

Post-colonial inferiority complex at its most stark. Gaelic games aren't the problem - attitudes like the above are.

Chain Smoker

Surely if you're issue is that the Irish soccer team aren't as good as they used to be, that's a lot more down to the FAI doing such a great job at driving everyone towards rugby than anything to do with the GAA.

El Chapo

lawlolawl wrote: »

You must be delusional if you actually believe any of that.

The GAA isn't about money? All Ireland tickets are 80 quid a pop.

And GAA teams don't try to find and play the best players? Sure Brian Cody et al just run out whatever crowd of young fellas who show up looking for a game.

Do you think Croke Park and all the other stadiums run on fresh air? Maybe you think fairies maintain them as well?

I went to the Italy v Ireland game a few weeks ago, ticket cost me €135. There was three games in Thurles on Saturday, €25 admission to watch them all. Now that's value.

I play gaelic football with my local club and absolutely love it. I regularly turn down over time and social occasions to make training and matches, it means that much to me. In a few years time I'll be retired and I know if I didn't make these sacrifices when I was young enough to play, I'd regret it hugely. The GAA as a whole has it's faults but overall it's a fantastic organisation. Massive health benefits not to mention the social side to it.

I plan on becoming a referee when I eventually pack it in, I feel I need to give something back to an organisation that has given me so much.

Sterling Archer

So the OP is annoyed that the Irish soccer team aren't as good as he thinks they used to be, and he is looking for a scapegoat, likely he had some issue with the GAA many years ago and won't let it go so now believes this is the reason the Irish soccer teams is not performing to the standard of other nations..

Failing to realize the Irish soccer is actually in a better position than it has been in previous years, with a healthy homegrown pool of players.

Mal-Adjusted

During or after every big international soccer tournament, there's a thread on here complaining that if it weren't for the GAA then Ireland would be half decent at the sport. It's all nonsense and just people venting because the FAI can never seem to get it's $h!t together.

NiallBoo

I don't think Gaelic games are a bad thing, but I think the lack of alternatives in most parts of the country is.

I don't begrudge the gaa for that, they came in and filled the void of sporting facilities in the country at a time when nobody else was willing to do it.

Variety is the spice of life though. No sport suits everybody (or all ages) and everybody develops their abilities better when they do a variety of sports.

I'd love to see more support for the development of things like local athletics/cycling/gymnastics/whatever facilities for clubs and schools.

In particular I'd like to see the development of municipal facilities that can be used for a variety of sports.

I think this would compliment the gaa, not challenge it, and help people stay healthy and active throughout their lives.

Omackeral

Bigus wrote: »

Unfortunately soccer seems more of a business than a sport these days , overpaid divas and none too exciting to watch , never mind the corruption , brought on by too much money slushing about the business.

SO yes,roll on the GAA that gives every participant a chance at a game no matter what level skill they have and the manager doesn't just care or invest time in finding next Ronaldo or Messi.

That's at the elite level. I find the more grounded a league is in it's roots, the more honest the game is. That goes for the players and fans too, more of a community feel. Wouldn't find too many corrupt millionaire divas at Luton Town or Galway United.

lawlolawl

El Chapo wrote: »

Do you think Croke Park and all the other stadiums run on fresh air? Maybe you think fairies maintain them as well?

If Croke park sells out for an All-Ireland final the GAA makes approx. €6,584,000 on tickets sales alone.

I sincerely doubt it costs that much to have the place open for the day.

dobman88

s4uv3 wrote: »

Nope.

The GAA trains, educates, and nurtures a huge amount of our young kids, giving them physical and emotional tools that will carry them well in adulthood.
It does not foster a culture of diving to the ground and rolling around screaming while holding a leg that nobody hit, and earning millions of euro a year for doing so.
GAA does so much more good than harm for sport in Ireland it's not even questionable tbh.

People who hate the GAA are usually just bitter over some grievance.

Aidan O' Shea disagrees with this.

El_Duderino 09

I was never much good at GAA so I don't have any love for it. It's a cool field sport to watch though. I think most impartial fans would prefer to watch a GAA match than the boring final last night. At the very least, you can watch GAA and admire the men for their dedication and groundedness.

The GAA has had some advantages over the years. I played rugby and my club sent an invitation to come watch one of my matches. The teacher made a big song and dance about how our town was a GAA town and not a rugby town (only 1 type of GAA though).

She said I was free to do what I like at the weekend but she wasn't bringing our school to watch rugby. The GAA won't have that sort of stupidity to protect its playing numbers in the future. It will have to compete to get kids attention with the other sports so naturally it will lose numbers over time. It will be around for a few generations to come though.

It doesn't do anything to hurt our reputation though.

beks101

El Chapo wrote: »

I play gaelic football with my local club and absolutely love it. I regularly turn down over time and social occasions to make training and matches, it means that much to me. In a few years time I'll be retired and I know if I didn't make these sacrifices when I was young enough to play, I'd regret it hugely. The GAA as a whole has it's faults but overall it's a fantastic organisation. Massive health benefits not to mention the social side to it.

Bottom line for me really. In a country that struggles with massive mental health problems and where binge drinking seems to be promoted every night of the week, I think the pros outweigh the cons by a country mile with GAA.

Parochial as all hell and the hero status of any "star player" is the oddest thing in the world to me. But you'll find that in any sport really.

NiallBoo

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

The GAA won't have that sort of stupidity to protect its playing numbers in the future. It will have to compete to get kids attention with the other sports so naturally it will lose numbers over time. It will be around for a few generations to come though.

I reckon this attitude is dying out as more sports become normal and the old politics become less relevant.

I don't think the gaa well lose numbers though, I think it'll just become more normal for people to do a variety of sports.

NiallBoo

beks101 wrote: »

Bottom line for me really. In a country that struggles with massive mental health problems and where binge drinking seems to be promoted every night of the week, I think the pros outweigh the cons by a country mile with GAA.

Thing is that it's great if you're into it but if you're not then there's not much alternative and you're left being kind of an outsider.

Jimoslimos

ClovenHoof wrote: »

Does the GAA creating a mindset that the local inter parish final being the pinnacle of human sporting achievement rob us of athletes who could represent Ireland on the international stage by effectively ghettoising them at a very young age?

Attitudes like this remind me of the old Soviet Union/DDR approach to sport. A propaganda tool to remind citizens in those countries that the Communist system produced the fittest/fastest/strongest men and women. Intensive selection procedure from a young age, years of training and pumped full of drugs gave the desired outcome. Indeed many reached the pinnacle of sporting achievement (and many of those records still stand) on the greatest international stage, the Olympics.

lawlolawl

beks101 wrote: »

Bottom line for me really. In a country that struggles with massive mental health problems and where binge drinking seems to be promoted every night of the week, I think the pros outweigh the cons by a country mile with GAA.

The GAA has been around for decades and we still have an unhealthy amount of binge drinking and high suicide stats among young people.

It does **** all to help if you wouldn't be interested in it in the first place and it can make some young people feel even more isolated if they are outside of the GAA circle looking in at all the local "stars" getting attention/love for playing a game.

Capt'n Midnight

PARlance wrote: »

You obviously don't remember the 1983 County Minor B final, 1-6 from play. It was only afterwards that he developed a taste for fast pints and loose women. Paddy had it all at one stage!

what was that he used to say ?

"In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life."

"I used to go missing a lot... Miss Canada, Miss United Kingdom, Miss World."

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."

"I was born with a great gift, and sometimes with that comes a destructive streak. Just as I wanted to outdo everyone when I played, I had to outdo everyone when we were out on the town"