GAA clubs decimated by player emigration

Date Published: 16-Nov-2011

Hurling and football clubs across the county are fearful for the future due to a combination of mass player emigration and a lack of young talent coming through rural primary schools where pupil numbers are in decline.

A straw poll of a dozen GAA clubs in Co Galway carried out by the Connacht Tribune this week revealed that many have lost up to six or seven adult players over the past twelve months, putting the viability of some teams into doubt.

Clubs have even requested relegation from the GAA authorities in response to dwindling player numbers in cases where four or five friends from one team have moved to countries such as Australia or the United States in search of better job prospects.

A recent reunion in Australia, organised through the social networking site Facebook, saw 42 people from Williamstown meet up in a Sydney bar on a Saturday night – many of those present joked that there would hardly be as many people in any of the four bars in their home town.

“We haven’t really been hit too badly by emigration this year, but an awful lot left in the previous couple of years,” said Williamstown GAA club secretary Thomas Conneally this week. “We were hit really badly in 2010.

“But rumour has it that a lot more are going again in the New Year. A lot of people here are not working or working part-time, and you often get a case where a group of mates emigrate together.

"Australia is where they are all going and we are bracing ourselves for another exodus this winter. Another problem is that the youth are not in it and we don’t have the same numbers coming through the schools.”

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.