FORMER KILDARE AND Wexford football boss Jason Ryan does not believe that it is a hard sell to get players to commit at inter-county senior level and still feels there is major enjoyment to be got from operating on the elite stage of the game.
Ryan disagrees with the notion that it is currently a major sacrifice to play at the highest level in GAA and feels the competitiveness of the league structure in particular points to football being in a healthy state.
“I don’t buy into the idea of (sacrifice) with the hours training and all this kind of stuff. I think people enjoy it. With regards to people travelling vast distances to travel to training, for years they have been for inter-county training.
“If you had a field session on a Tuesday, you’re in the pool on a Wednesday or you’re doing the recovery session or you’re doing a gym session. There was lots of people watching what they ate just as much as they are now. It’s now highlighted more that you are monitored more than what you would have been before and there’s an awful lot more talk about it.
“Look at people that are doing endurance sports whether it’s triathlons or marathon training or cyclists, the number of hours that they’re training on any given week is phenomenal as well. It’s not just unique to inter-county hurling and inter-county Gaelic football.
“I think working with a group of people is just a fantastic feeling, the camaraderie, the friendships, the bonds that develop. I know people speak about winning and the importance of it but in inter-county football and hurling, there’s only one team wins every year. Just because you don’t win doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been beneficial.
“It’s just fantastic. That’s the original reason why people take part in sport, the enjoyment of participating, not just the winning. It’s a privilege as a coach or manager at any level to be working with people and to be collectively trying to improve. For me personally it’s just something I absolutely love.
“I’ve always thought football was in a healthy state. There’s comments about how people are attending games at different stages but look I think the game is very, very healthy. Yes, Dublin are in a very strong position at the moment but whether you’re in Division 1, 2, 3 or 4, it’s competitive in every division. There’s no game in any division which is a gimme for the other teams. I think the game is healthy.”
Ryan has spent over a decade involved with senior county sides. He managed Wexford for five seasons until the close of 2012, then was involved with Kildare for three campaigns and had a role as part of the Cork backroom team more recently.
He views the new Tier 2 structure as a positive with the extra games provided for weaker counties while still feeling the fixture programme remains ‘a conundrum’. The Waterford native is unsure about the new Gaelic football rules, waiting to see what impact they will have.
“I think the plus (with Tier 2) is that for a lot of teams, they’re going to get more games. It’s an unusual scenario that we have had whereby if you’re the best you play more games and if you’re not as strong you play less games.
“The better teams have a longer season so they develop more as a season goes on whereas the weaker teams are knocked out in June and they don’t have any more games again until the National League competition starts up the following year. From that point of view, anything that gives the players more competitive inter-county games, I think is brilliant.
“Look the calendar is an ongoing conundrum to try to solve and it’s challenging. If it was an easy fix, sure there would have been something done about it long ago. It’s just not easy.
“Changes wise regarding the rules, just not 100% sure on any of them. It’s there now, try and see how it is, review it, make some decisions on it. How much of a change the offensive mark is going to make to the game, how much extra kicking is going to be, I don’t know, time will tell as teams start to train more to maximise that actual rule.
“There’s no point in me commenting on whether I would have introduced them or not because they’re there. It’s just a matter now of watch it and see. I’d like to think the GAA if the rules turn out to be not to the benefit of the game, I’d like to think they’ll adapt and change it again.”
Ryan, vice-principal in Dungarvan College, is currently involved in his native Waterford as a coaching tutor. He is enjoying being involved in that side of the GAA.
“Once I finished with Kildare, I wanted to contribute to coaching within my county. I’m a huge believer in coaching education and upskilling constantly because it’s just evolving at a rapid rate of knots, everything with sport science. It’s just vital to keep developing.
“I think there’s so much to learn from coaches in other sports. Yes the games are different and all the rest of it but working with people is working with people. If you can gain insights into those relationships and how to plan and organise from other sporting bodies and transfer what you see appropriate, then all the better.
“It’s looking at best practice from elsewhere, other parts of the world and other sports. It’s not taking anything away from our national games at all. That’s where I think the importance of the various workshops that are run. Not just the GAA conference in Croke Park but also the South-East coaching conference that Barry Dunne is organising (in WIT on 29 February), it’s a great opportunity for people to go and pick up ideas.”
Ryan identifies turnover in players and coaches as one of the biggest challenges facing teams at all levels in GAA.
“Having continuity of players is massive. It’s something when I was playing with Waterford, I felt that when we had a group of players together for a number of years, you have great opportunity to progress but if you’ve a large turnover of players, it’s very, very difficult.
“Continuity of coaching, continuity of management, continuity of players, it’s really important to have that. I think they’re the biggest ones for me but along the way coach education is huge. Coaching officers in clubs have such a responsibility to help the games within the clubs, that the coaches are supported.”
*******************
Jason Ryan will be one of the speakers at the 2020 South East Coaching Workshop in Waterford IT on Saturday 29 February.
Mick Bohan, Lizzy Kent and Jamesie O’Connor are also part of the coaching panel.
Tickets for the event are available here.
Andy Dunne and Murray Kinsella join Gavan Casey to tee you up for Sunday’s big one. The lads try to figure out where the winning and losing of the game will be, field a The42 member’s question as to what extent the media plays a role in Ireland’s performance, and Andy explains why Henry Tuilagi haunts his dreams at night.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
