Advertisement
Mayo manager Peter Leahy talks to his team. Morgan Treacy/INPHO
unsafe

Resuming club games before social distancing ends 'totally disrespectful' to players

Peter Leahy has taken the decision to stop tracking the Mayo squad’s training sessions.

MAYO LADIES MANAGER Peter Leahy says restarting the club game when social distancing measures are still in place would be “totally disrespectful” to players.

All mass gatherings above 5,000 people have been banned until September at the earliest and there’s a growing feeling that club action could return before inter-county due to the smaller crowds involved. 

But Leahy, who is also involved as a coach with Shandonagh senior footballers in Westmeath, believes no GAA should return until social distancing is lifted by the government.

“You look at a club, even if they did social distancing in the dressing room and they go training, they’re all kicking the same football and touching it,” he told The42. ”You can’t tell me there’s going to be non-contact.

“Say if someone works in a nursing home if one person brings that back and goes back into a nursing home?

“We’re a contact sport it’s as simple as that. If one person has it we can all get it. You can’t socially distance a contact sport. 

“Who hasn’t got a grandparent or a mother or father with an underlying issue? Who hasn’t got someone in their family with underlying issues? I’d say if you took 30 people in a panel, 15 of them are in contact with someone who is vulnerable.

“All the people now are speculating, ‘Oh it could be July or August.’ The simplest way to do it is to forget about the time limit. They should come out and say, ‘When the government lifts social distancing we’ll be back playing.’ Simple as that.

“I was the same at the start, I might as well be honest. I was saying, ‘Keep it open. Let’s play.’ But now I’m like, ‘Absolutely no way. Just can’t happen. End of story.’ 

“I think it’s being totally disrespectful to clubs to say we won’t be able to do county because of the crowds but we can do club. Hold on a second, it’s the exact same sport in the exact same circumstances.  

“Players are players, it’s the same thing as being in a crowd. They have families to go home to, they’ve to go into work. 

“Okay, there’s not 5,000 watching a match, but what about the players? Surely that’s who it should be about, and their families. Not the 500 people who pay to go and watch a match. It’s the people who are giving the entertainment who are the ones that should be protected.

“If a club can guarantee that everyone on that pitch will be safe, which is not possible. So it’s not going to happen. An amateur sport cannot take place when social distancing is in place. The minute that’s lifted, we can play.”

peter-leahy Mayo manager Peter Leahy. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

The Westmeath native says the GAA could be opening a can of worms if clubs get the green light to resume games and training too soon.

“I can guarantee you now, if I came back from a session and got it – I’m an oncology patient, an ex-cancer patient. So say for example I got it and I passed away, my family would sue the GAA.”

Former GAA president Sean Kelly recently suggested that inter-county championships could commence behind closed doors in August. 

But Leahy doesn’t see county games taking place unless all restrictions have been lifted.

“I want it on the television as much as anyone else, I’m sick of watching the old matches. I want it to go ahead.

“But are we going to put the 60 people involved in a high-end GAA match and all their families at risk of contracting Covid-19 for the sake of us all sitting at home and watching television?

“If schools go back and they can sit next to each other or if we can go into a coffee shop and not be kept two metres apart, we can play our sport. If schools go back in September, yes we could have a championship at the end of the year.”

In the last few days, Leahy has taken the decision to stop tracking the Mayo squad’s training sessions.

They had been required to complete a running programme three times a week, but now he’s decided to leave them to their own devices.

“We’ve called it,” he says. “We’re letting the girls do whatever they want themselves. We were training fully up until last weekend, we all have GPS tracking systems so we can train remotely. But we’ve stopped it because we believe it’s just not possible.

“We’ll know two weeks in advance if it’s going to be lifted. We’ll have a fair idea with the way the curve is going. They might say, ‘We envisage July that we’ll lift the social distancing’. Well then we’ll go back training. But you can’t have them training non-stop with no end game. 

“We’re now in our fifth week where competition is stopped. What are we going to do with them? Will we do another 10 or 12 weeks of just running and working out at home? To get what? No football, nothing. You can’t do it. 

“I put it to the group if they wanted to continue their running. I told them my opinion is there will be no football until social distancing is over, that’s just my opinion.  

sinead-cafferky-and-lauren-magee Mayo's Sinéad Cafferky and Dublin's Lauren Magee. Evan Logan / INPHO Evan Logan / INPHO / INPHO

“Now, most of them are continuing their runs but they’re not being monitored anymore. It’s just a case of, ‘If ye want to do something girls, it’s up to ye. We can no longer keep asking ye to do stuff in the hope of something happening.’ I think it’s very unfair on the players.

“If they open up the thing they can’t start the championship straight away. You’ll get a minimum of three to four weeks training before you’re back at it. You’d hope that everybody could keep their fitness.

“Even if you’ve done all the fitness work in the world, it’s going to take three or four weeks to get your football brain in place.

“Listen, what is everybody doing right now, never mind sportspeople? They’re out doing their runs because there’s nothing else to do.”

Leahy is concerned with how the uncertainty is affecting players as they balance other real-life pressures.

“Players don’t know where they stand. And to be honest it’s affecting their mental health as well because they’re all worried.

“When they came out with this thing about no mass gatherings until September, they all panicked. ‘Does that mean no championship?’ The uncertainty is ridiculous. 

“I don’t think anyone is at a disadvantage being called now because inter-county athletes keep themselves in order all year round. I don’t see the big issue with calling Mayo. Every day I was getting a text, ‘Do you think we’ll be back?’

“I think everybody is sitting and waiting for someone to call it. Everybody is training but no-one knows what’s happening. We just did it. It’s a personal thing for us. Of course if it opens up again, Mayo will play championship football and Mayo will be ready. But I’m not putting people through a huge amount of uncertainty.  

“They’ll all do their own thing. But to be in a regimental situation with no end game in sight is totally wrong.

“There’s enough pressures going on at the moment with people worrying about jobs, worrying about college and everything else that’s going on. Inter-county football shouldn’t be another worry. Remember it’s an amateur sport, it’s supposed to be there for fun.” 

- First published today at 18.16

The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!

Your Voice
Readers Comments
8
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

    Leave a commentcancel