Here’s what’s wrong with a picture of the LGFA wanting to stand on its own two feet.
Footballers all over the country suffer because of it.
Young girls who start off in clubs the same way we all do, who grow up through the underage teams – firstly with the boys and then in their own teams – they get shafted.
They get screwed over when their motivation and their actions are exactly the same. They want to play our games, they want to represent their communities and they go to training every week – some, every day – so they can improve themselves and their teams.
But that’s coming at a cost for ladies footballers. If they want to go on to the top of their sport, they have to pay for the pleasure to train for their county teams. It doesn’t happen everywhere but the Tyrone ladies got hit with a hefty bill for using the Tyrone GAA facilities and the Laois women are priced out of the centre of excellence in the O’Moore County.
Attendance at ladies football final shows we all have a massive part to play, writes @ConanDoherty https://t.co/03h2AmD04P #properfan
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) September 24, 2017
Whilst their male equivalents get all this stuff for free having gone through the same process of development from when they were kids and still doing the very same thing at senior level, the females have to cough up money somehow and, in some places, that’s coming out of their own pockets.
The only problem? The LGFA don’t have the facilities themselves.
There’s nothing wrong with them wanting to be a separate entity but, if they’re determined to do that, they need to protect the players and ensure they’re treated like the men are. To do that though, they need facilities because, if they don’t have those and they don’t have an association with the GAA, they’ll have to continue to rent.
That means money and it also means potential for them to lose out on grounds for big games or have fixtures postponed and altered. The optics of that are that the females are treated worse – and they are, it’s not fair on them – but the reason for it is that the ladies players of the LGFA are not under the GAA umbrella.
On The GAA Hour, Colm Parkinson asked why they hell that is not the case.
“We spoke on the podcast last week about the Tyrone ladies footballers having to pay Garvaghey to rent the property and we were wondering why the LGFA wasn’t in under the GAA umbrella and why they have to pay these rents – it seems so unfair,” Wooly said.
“I got some information that Liam O’Neill actually tried to offer the LGFA to come in under the GAA umbrella. They met about it and the LGFA refused. They didn’t want to be part of the GAA, they said ‘no’ to Liam O’Neill and not only did they say ‘no’ to him, there was said to be a little bit of hostility in the meeting. I got this from someone who was in the meeting.
“My sympathy for the LGFA, who has to pay rent to the GAA, has completely gone out the window now. They don’t want to be part of the GAA which I find incredible considering the funding they could receive and the free facilities.
“They don’t have a pot to piss in, they have no pitches, no dressing rooms, no nothing. They’re playing a GAA code but don’t want to be governed by the GAA. I find it absolutely bizarre and that’s the answer we didn’t have last week.
“You have to pay your rent now.”
This is a serious issue. Questions need to be asked about whether or not the LGFA would serve their members better as part of the GAA and why they’re so reluctant to come on board.
