Galway shake up squad as uncertainty still stalks GAA
WITH the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic generating so much uncertainty over the 2021 GAA fixtures, Galway senior hurling selector David Forde says it’s a crystal ball they need rather than hurling balls!
After the GAA successfully ran off their inter-county competitions in a difficult 2020, there was much optimism that this year’s competitions – National League and Championships – could also be facilitated, with, perhaps, the bonus of having crowds in attendance at some point over the year.
That may still happen, but with Covid-19 case figures ballooning over the Christmas and New Year, and the vaccination process not moving as fast as expectations, it looks as if it could be a while yet before inter-county players can return to training – never mind see competitive action.
Indeed, as one week bleeds into the next, there is the possibility that the National Leagues may not go ahead. “I wouldn’t write it off yet,” says Forde, “but I would love to have a crystal ball and be able to see what is going to happen.
“Look, there is probably lots of time yet. Last year, they squeezed the championship into such a short space of time so you can see there is still time to play the competitions. They might just have to shorten them or tighten the number of fixtures in the National League, but I wouldn’t write it off yet.”
For Forde and the rest of the Galway management – manager Shane O’Neill and fellow coaches John Fitzgerald and Fergal Healy – this foray into inter-county senior management has been a surreal experience. Little did they think when they were appointed in late 2019 that the majority of their time in charge to date would be under the dark cloud of a pandemic.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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