SIDELINE VIEW: The time for discussion is now

IT’S a glorious April day 2017 in Armagh’s Athletic Grounds.  Maghera have just won another D’Alton Cup title.

Gathering my wares together in the press box, a Cavan journalist posed me the question.

“Why, with all the school dominance up there, why are Derry not challenging at the top.”

“How long have you got?” I thought to myself, as I relayed my hopes for the Oakleaf county to get back to the top of the pile.

Just weeks earlier, Derry were relegated to division three.  At the time this column penned its thoughts on Ulster’s most underachieving county.

But it hadn’t bottomed out.  Not yet.  A further 12 months later, the unthinkable happened as Derry fell into the bottom tier.  Once again Sideline View opened its soul.

It isn’t a 10-minute or a 10-month problem.  It’s so much more.  The demise has been over 10 years in the making.

In my book, it’s not down to one person or one regime, but more an apathy that has manifested itself out of control.

With the dark reality came the sharpening of the knives and a gnashing of teeth.  Everyone has an opinion and rightly so.  That’s how it should be.  But it’s how it is channelled that counts.

Scapegoats and explanations were sought out, but internet trolls and bar stool experts don’t win championships.  They don’t coach the next generation and they don’t sit on strategic development committees.

People have a right to be angry.  Derry’s identity on the national stage is way too important.

But beyond all the noise, there a need for a rational approach.  The GAA is, or in some cases is perceived to be, a democratic organisation.

Having been involved with committees in my own club down the years, the committee room table is the only place to do business.

My take on reversing Derry’s demise has been consistent.  A root and branch approach.  With a total motivation to move the county forward.  All aspects.  All codes.  All ages.  Bring everyone together.  Everyone.

TIME TO RISE

During my time in St Louis Grammar School Ballymena I worked under Sean Rafferty who came in as Principal.  Never have I encountered a man with so much energy.

First impressions last.  At our first staff meeting with the new principal, we were told the school was ‘a sleeping giant’ which would grapple its way back to the top.  Rafferty brought people with him.

St Louis are now top of the school league tables and are competing for titles on the sporting field.  A tradition that is building.

That’s the type of approach I feel Derry need at this major crossroads.

On Friday night, Derry County Board will hold a ‘Big Conversation’ on the future of the GAA in the county.

Chairman Brian Smith sent an invitation to all clubs, open to the chairperson and secretary.   On the face of it, this is what needs to happen.  A line drawn in the sand.  A stocktake and a vision of where Derry needs to go.

Clubs will meet with the county’s advisory committee, formed at the end of last year.

“Their remit is to encourage discussion around a range of pertinent issues and come forward with recommendations for the County Executive, which we will respond to,” Brian Smith explained in his correspondence.

The disappointing aspect is that the net was not spread wider.  Many former county players, managers, sponsors and administrators have something to offer.

That said, an open invitation to all Gaels could create havoc.  The Johnny Burke suite could be littered with everyone with an axe to grind.  But clubs, I feel, should be permitted to nominate two delegates from their membership.

There is a concern among clubs that this is a box ticking exercise.  The apathy has festered too deep.

In 2010 Derry County Board formed a group of former players and coaches to explore how the county’s teams could be brought to the next level.  After two meetings the venture wasn’t followed through.

In the 2017 Derry GAA Information manual, there are a list of 26 sub committees, which includes a Hurling Development Committee.

On Friday night, there needs to be a proposal for the formation of a Football Development Committee.  A body that can formally and transparently plot a path for the county to follow.

Attendances at AGMs have dwindled.  Also, the last few meetings of clubs have saw as little as eight clubs represented.  It swelled to slightly north of 20 at an important meeting surrounding club insurance.

But at the minute, this is the only avenue available for change until the AGM later in the year.

Some clubs, following their invitation to Friday’s ‘Big Conversation’, have met their members and thrashed out solutions and issues they want resolved.

Clubs have an onus to canvass its members in advance of the meeting.  For questions and solutions.  The Chairperson and secretary will need to be collate and bring them to Owenbeg.

When Stephen Barker conducted his story into fixture structures, the net was cast wide.  Players and managers were involved in the conversation, a process that has brought great success.  It was the same when ideas were canvassed on linking the senior hurling league and championships together.

This is the only way.  But the worry is that the problems and the relationships between clubs and the county executive have gone past the point of rescue.  Hopefully not.

It may have got to the point where an outside entity needs to be brought into the equation.  Someone away from any ties with the current county executive.  In the same way all clubs appoint outside managers to heal rifts between factions and families.  It’s the same principal.

This is the time when Derry need to do likewise, so that any advisory committee can facilitate frank, yet productive discussions.

MIDDLE MAN

Back in the early 1990s, former Armagh manager Fr Sean Hegarty was brought in to manage the Derry senior football team when it was at a low ebb.  Eamon Coleman came on board with him, before taking over the in the county’s golden era.

To me club is important, but so is our county.  Whatever water has passed under the bridge, should be allowed to flow downstream.  It is time for Oakleaf Gaels to be proud again.

Friday’s meeting can go one of three ways.  Some clubs won’t bother attending and the age-old excuse of clubs not caring about county will again be rolled out.

Secondly, the majority of clubs will arrive with an armful of suggestions for change, that won’t see the light of day and apathy will remain.

But for me, it needs to be the third option.  Clubs need to bring their proposals.  A line needs to be drawn on the past and all new ideas taken on board to make the first of many steps at getting Derry back on the road to recovery.

The perception of Derry as an entity in the GAA depends on it.

I want to be able to meet my Cavan journo colleague in the near future and inform him of the seismic change in the Oakleaf mentality.  A pathway towards change.

The time for honest and strategic dialogue is now.

Sideline View’s proposals to Friday’s meeting:

• The setting up of two separate and fully functional football and hurling development committees, made from a selection of former players, coaches and administrators. It should set targets and objectives for Derry GAA Coaching staff with all progress to be evaluated on an annual basis.
• Rotating of county games around the club grounds within the county in a hope to engage with the Derry GAA fan base. Celtic Park and Owenbeg to be used as well.  The Owenbeg stadium pitch is out of bounds currently as a result of overuse.
• Erect floodlighting on the back two pitches at Owenbeg that are not currently floodlit. The current floodlit grass pitches to be drained and floodlights upgraded.  This will avoid county teams requiring club grounds for training.
• An evaluation of gaelic games activity within the city at school and club level. To broaden the base of players for long term progress at county level, the population base needs to be fully utilised.  The possibility of any grants for development officers to be sounded out.
• The restructure of development squads to cater for players below the elite level who are getting sufficient extra coaching at school level. All expertise and coaching knowledge to be shared to as wide a base as is possible.
• A dedicated support network put in place for the smaller clubs in the county. Possibly tied into the new development squad structure, where coaches come to the clubs in clusters, with all coaches invited.