Sporting season can be salvaged as the GAA lays out its road map

At last, the sporting depression is dissipating. The second phase of lifting the Covid-19 restrictions this week has given the Irish people a massive and timely lift, particularly as the Government went further in easing the lockdown than was generally anticipated. The sporting year now looks it can be salvaged.

For weeks, us sporting junkies had to endure the prophets of doom, some of whom almost seemed to be revelling in the prospect of heavyweight codes – the GAA, soccer and rugby – being possibly consigned to the sidelines for the rest of the year. In truth, none of knew us what lay down the tracks, but we were entitled to hope.

Of course, there is still a way to go and a sudden spike in the coronavirus could throw everything into disarray. Nobody is counting their chickens yet, but the outlook is promising. Already, horse racing in Ireland resumed at Naas on Monday, while the GAA have laid out a road map for the resumption of team training and matches.

It all has served to lift the morale of the country and with more retailers opening their doors this week and the lifting of restrictions being brought forward, normality is gradually returning to our lives. Sure, the 2m social distancing rule remains a major issue, but the signals are that it will be gone sooner rather than later.

Up to now, the GAA had been ultra-cautious in their public pronouncements about setting out a timetable for the return of activity. In retrospect, the Association’s President, John Horan, reality-based interview on The Sunday Game a few weeks back was probably the right tone to take in the circumstances. It also ensured the GAA wasn’t jumping the gun, together with being perceived as acting responsibly.

The Association held its powder dry until the time was right to outline what a condensed GAA championship would look like. In relation to clubs, teams can resume training from Monday June 29; physical contact will be allowed from July 20; while matches can go ahead from July 31 – dates which could be still brought forward. In a nutshell, the Galway club championships can start on the Friday of what will be a very different Race Week at Ballybrit.

 For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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