GAA officials need to support referees

KEVIN EGAN contends that while many GAA officials appear to support referees with words. They also need to support the "men in the middle" when it comes to actions and protecting them from thuggery from supporters. Perhaps inspired by the much improved performance of the Offaly footballers under the tutelage of their new manager, Cork GAA took a step towards getting their big name hurlers back on to the field this week, firstly when their clubs voted to endorse the players" actions and secondly when Gerald McCarthy stepped down from his position. The full repercussions of this battle will no doubt be felt for some time to come, but for the moment, the prospect of a Cork team full of unfamiliar names taking the field in the Munster championship appears to be fading. There are those who would have considered that particular outcome to be nothing short of disastrous, but no matter how uncompetitive a team Gerald McCarthy may have been forced to select had he retained his position, the game would still have gone ahead. Now consider an alternative scenario - a full strength Cork team burst out onto the field, fully prepared to do battle with their age old Tipperary rivals - but no referee is available. Suddenly the spectators aren"t left with an uncompetitive game, they have no game at all. The furore surrounding the Cork saga would lead an outsider to believe that a shortage of potential inter-county players was a real issue for the GAA at the moment, when in actual fact, a shortage of referees is a much more pressing issue. There will always be players in the GAA and an abundance of those keen to represent their county to the best of their ability, but all across Ireland, the need for more referees to take up the whistle is becoming more and more of an emergency. Here in Offaly, the shortage of potential arbiters is particularly acute. The issue has featured consistently at county board level for the past couple of seasons, with some new names coming on board to bolster the ranks, but many more still needed. The official party line coming from county board officials rarely varies, always affirming the importance of referees, and the need for their role to be respected and valued. However, this message is often undermined by the actions, both official and privately, of those who most need to be seen to support the few referees who continue to ply their trade within the county, and in doing so, keep Gaelic games alive. This weekend, the Offaly under-21 hurling championship commences in Shinrone, with the clash of St. Mary"s and St. Malachy"s. The irony of this fixture taking place at the same time as those within the county appeal for more GAA members to take up the whistle cannot be lost on too many, as this was supposed to be the second year for the St. Mary"s amalgamation to be suspended from under-21 competition after one of their supporters struck referee Michael Mahon in 2007. Eventually the suspension was commuted into a €1000 fine and the loss of home advantage for two years, though it appears that even that relatively small sanction has fallen by the wayside with the fixing of this weekend"s game for Shinrone. Referees within the county did local players a great service when they agreed to call off their strike last year, however the county board was very much let off the hook in that instance and the message that they sent out back then was very much a deterrent to any individual considering undertaking refereeing. It was no coincidence that almost at the same time, the St. Kevin"s hurling club in Dublin were the subject of an very similar investigation. They too had a supporter assault a ref and tried to withhold the assailant"s identity, but the Dublin County Board were much less accommodating than their Offaly counterparts. St. Kevin"s were thrown out of all competitions until they named the culprit and once that pressure was brought to bear, former chairman Brian Flannery stepped forward and admitted his actions, to be given a two-year ban in due course. The contrast between that situation and the corresponding case in Offaly could not have been more stark. The above case illustrates how poorly referees have been treated in public, while in private, it appears that there have been examples of equally shoddy treatment. Two separate instances have been made known to this writer, directly from the referees in question, of how they were personally criticised in front of others for their performances in championship matches, by members of the county board executive in the aftermath of games involving those executives" respective clubs. Referees are just as human as any other member of the GAA and know all too well that they can make mistakes. Equally, a referee knows fully that if a team is two points down in injury time and the ball is put into the net after a dubious amount of steps, he has no option but to greatly infuriate one side or the other - keeping everyone happy is simply not an option. That a few lúdramáns from whichever club gets the rough end of the stick will perhaps make a few choice statements as he walks off the pitch is par for the course and no referee would seek to make a fuss over that. However, these people are entitled to expect better from those who the following week will be making imploring statements about how more referees are needed in the county. They are also entitled to expect that if one of those yobs should choose to walk onto the field and accost them, they shall be held to account for those actions. Right now, it appears that referees in Offaly enjoy no such assurance. This columnist still plays Gaelic football in Offaly to the best of his extremely limited ability and has no doubt that any of the county"s referees would do their best to offer what protection they can if a direct opponent should choose to go beyond the levels of aggression allowed within the rules of the game. It"s extremely disappointing that the referees themselves cannot enjoy such protection. Those following Offaly GAA matters will undoubtedly hear a lot more about the need for referees in the coming weeks and months, either through the various media outlets, or through their clubs, as the pleas for new recruits make their way down along the line. If those pleas are to be taken seriously, the county board would do well to firstly, affirm their willingness to protect referees against what thuggery exists out there and, secondly, to be sure that their own actions back up their words. If they want any but the most risk-loving individuals to get involved, it"s the least they can do.