This article is from page 88 of the 2007-12-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 88 JPG
VOLUNTEERISM within coaching and management structures operated by Bord na nOg Iomaint could be at an end, because key men involved with county teams are being in dan- ger of being enticed “more lucrative” opportunities at club level.
Chairman Sean O’ Halloran praised the outstanding contributions made by those involved with the various underage teams, but warned that it can no longer be expected to give of their time for nothing.
“Development Squads and associ- ated County teams continue to be an integral part of the
Board’s rea ata La Coreae noted O’Halloran in his address to Con- vention. “A huge amount of time and effort 1s put in by the respective men- tors and even though we didn’t have the same success as in 2006, there are reasons for optimism.
“East Clare U-l6s were defeated in the Munster Divisional Final af- ter a replay, while the U-15s won the Shield in the Carrigdoun Tourna- ment. The U-14s didn’t qualify for the knockout states of the Tony For- ristal Tournament. Credit for these squads must go to Gerry O’Connor, Donal Moloney, P. J. Kelliher, Ea- mon Fennessy, Alan Cunningham, Brendan McNamara, Pat ‘Taaffe, Sean Sheehan, Sean Chaplin, Tomas Kelly, Pat McNamara, Donal Mc- Grath and Eoin Ruane.
“It is important to note these men-
tors do this work in a totally voluntary capacity and this has to be acknowl- edged. However, the time has come when these volunteers will have to receive some form of remuneration to cover out of pocket expenses.
“It has become increasingly diffi- cult to acquire the services of those people as many of them have drifted into the club scene which is more lucrative. Surely a percentage of the monies acquired by coaching and games should be specifically directed towards squads,’ added O’ Halloran.
The chairman also highlight- ed the need for further coaching initiatives.’ The whole area of coach- ing needs to be looked as the number of Games Promotion Officer (GPQOs) in the county who, despite doing Tro- jan work, is not sufficient to cover the demands of primary and post prima- ry schools.
‘Furthermore, many clubs could benefit from the services of those GPOs on a temporary basis in con- junction with the own coaching of- ficer to put proper coaching struc- tures in place.
“A clearly defined coaching policy for respective age groups would be of enormous benefit to clubs as it would bring equality and uniformity. The county’s allocation of funding accrued from use of Croke Park by rugby and soccer could be utilised in the whole area of games promotion and development,” he added.