A wise man once said, “a club is only as strong as its committee”.
Forget about the manager for a second. Forget about the 15 senior players lucky enough to start the game. What are you really if you don’t have the right people guiding your club?
Championship matches don’t just happen.
There are registration fees just to enter the bloody competition to start with. Every player has to be registered. The management team has to be put in place. Jerseys have to be gotten – for that to happen, sponsors have to be sought. When that’s done, the jerseys have to be washed.
Someone has to fill the water, someone has to man the car park, collect money at the gate, provide the customary tea and sandwiches for your like-minded guests who’d do the same if you were going down the road.
The injured star has to be padded up as best as possible because not playing isn’t an option.
The half time game has to be organised and, for that to happen, 30 or 60 kids have to be kept an eye on by some poor soul who’ll be lucky to see even two uninterrupted minutes of the whole game.
Those games take place on grass that has to be cut. Lines have to be marked. Nets have to be put up and taken back down and, in the first place, you have to build a pitch and a club house if you want to do any of this.
Championship isn’t a day for the 21 players that might get a run out. They’re representing every single being in your club who has helped to make this possible.
Bonniconlon in county Mayo get it.
The intermediate club who won the 2016 Mayo Club Grounds of the Year produced a stirring video that perfectly encapsulates everyone who’s involved in championship, from the jersey-sorter the whole way to the retired players coming back to watch.
Behind the scenes prior to our @MayoGAA IFC clash with Burrishoole recently. It's not just the sixty minutes on the pitch… #TheToughest pic.twitter.com/tzps98vM1I
— Bonniconlon Gaa (@bonniconlongaa) May 25, 2017
This is what the GAA is all about. It’s about the parish. It’s about everyone.
In this video, even the bloody band, Flat Out – performing their single Dreamland – have relatives in Bonniconlon.
They lost the championship clash to Jason Doherty’s Burrishoole in the end by four points but that’s not the real story of days like this. It couldn’t be further from it.
The club goes on because of the men and women driving it. Good and bad results will come and go but what’s left long after and long before the final whistle is what counts.
It’s the club that counts. Not the team.
