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8 COLUMNIST
August 3, 2007 | Gaelic Life
JARLATH BURNS
The women’s game may not garner the same publicity as
the men’s game but there is much to admire about it
We can learn a lot from the ladies
Ok, so I know we had a great
weekend of football and
hurling and there are a
hundred angles I could
take on the matches we saw and
I know the Monaghan ones are
ripping at me for apparently ignoring
their odyssey this year, so
this week I am going to make
myself even more popular and
write about ‘ladies’ football’ because
after all, they deserve a bit
of coverage too, don’t they
For those who are interested,
we are currently in the group
stages of the All Ireland series of
Peil na mBan and you have to
hand it to the ladies’ crowd.
They refuse to copy their male
counterparts and in doing so,
have offered us a refreshing look
at how we could do business if
we weren’t tied down by the age
old rituals and customs which
are holding back the men’s
game.
Let’s start off with the lift ball,
which doesn’t exist in women’s
football and has led to a speedier
game with less opportunity for
the player who thrives on coming
in with the boot just as another
has their foot under it. While we
in the men’s game talk about removing
the rule, the girls don’t
have it at all and as a result, it’s
tidier, faster and gives a slight
advantage to the person on the
ball, leaving it harder to create
congestion particularly around
the middle of the field.
Secondly, the countdown
clock. Another great idea, since
everyone knows exactly where
they stand regarding how long’s
to go and thus we are spared the
routine of refs who will always
allow just one more move up the
field to the team who need that
last desperate point to level the
match. Remember, the announcer
always says ‘There will be at
least x number of minutes extra
time. This covers a multitude
and allows for a last foray up the
field for the equaliser, but is in
reality a complete refeering cop
out. The countdown clock is clinical,
cold and cruel, but is not
controlled by the referee, so
when the game’s over, it’s over,
even if a team is bearing down
on goal.
Then there’s the ‘sinbin’. The
GAA tried this one out a
few years ago, but
buckled under
pressure from
the managers.
Imagine that.
Allowing managers
to set
the agenda of
the association
when of
course we
know they’ll
do everything,
High
Court included
to get their
players from
getting a suspension.
In the
ladies’ game, you get
sinbinned after a yellow
card, so there is no
wriggle room for the
client who feels he has let
people down if he hasn’t got
booked in each match he plays
in. Within the rules of the
GAA, you are perfectly allowed
to give someone a
right aul smack in every
single match with absolutely
no punishment
whatsoever. This is one
of the rules we’ll look
back on in years to come
and ask ‘Why’ A simple
decision to carry yellow
cards over to a one match
suspension, would solve
that one, or a renewed
relationship
with the sinbin
would cut it out
completely.
Lastly,
there’s the
‘Champions’
League’ format
which kicks in after
the provincial
series is over. For
those who follow
the ladies’ game, this
has led to some absolutely
intriguing
contests and given us
cracking matches. I
was in Clones last Saturday
when Laois finally
shook off a feisty Sligo
challenge and Armagh and
Meath had us biting our nails
right up until the final whistle, or
WORTH WATCHING...Caroline O'Hanlon and her Armagh ladies team-mates play a skilful
exciting brand of football.
Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE
hooter I should say. Live on TG4,
all four teams dripping with attitude
and professionalism, lots at
stake in each match but only one
thing missing. Fans.
In even the most insignificant
under ten match, you’re at least
guaranteed to have the parents
of the players present and a few
diehards from the club. I swear,
in the first match, I couldn’t
count one person from Sligo who
could be termed a supporter.
What is going on Clones is a
great place when heaving with
the prejudicial roars of thirty
It’s time the women of this
country woke up, stopped
yapping about ‘rights’ and
got their asses out to
support their sisters
thousand, but there was less
than thirty at that game. Laois
and Meath fans are tramping the
roads after their teams all year
and both their mens’ teams were
in action at the weekend, but Sligo
have no excuse at all, since
they are still dining out on their
mens’ team’s odyssey which
landed them their first Connaught
title in thirty years.
Surely there is some sort of crest
of a wave that would have included
the aul females this year; the
junior All Ireland champions,
who are now plying their trade
with the big girls. At least Armagh
were able to muster up
around a hundred souls to cheer
on their team and they certainly
enough noise to make up for the
lack of numbers.
Ladies football is going well all
round the country and indeed
across the world. It has everything,
great athletes, action, tension,
even bloody live TV coverage
which other sports would die
for.
It’s time the women of this
country woke up, stopped yapping
about ‘rights’ and got their
asses out to support their sisters
who are performing heroics in
front of official attendances of zero.
Until they do this, peil na
mban will always be seen as a
minority sport.