Former Mayo footballer David Brady says he would rather play for a club's second team than sign the player charter of one GAA side which was leaked on social media over the weekend. The club, an All-Ireland senior championship winning team, has not responded to a request for a comment on the document.
The list of 11 requirements includes players needing the team management's permission to take holidays and consume alcohol. Players are also obliged to have "no other sporting commitments past June", including golf.
"As a player or a manager, I wouldn't ask any human being to sign up to anything like that," Brady told Newstalk's The Hard Shoulder.
"It contains the words 'can't' and 'mandatory'. What I'd say as a player, if that was put in front of me, is 'Good luck, goodbye and God bless, I'm going to play with the second team'. There has to be a degree of professionalism but you have to have fun."
6 November 2022; Ratoath manager David Brady before the AIB Leinster GAA Football Senior Club Championship quarter-final match between Ratoath and Rhode at Páirc Tailteann in Navan, Meath. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Another stipulation is that anyone planning an extended trip abroad during the summer, including on a J1 to the US, cannot be part of the panel.
Brady, who has managed Meath side Ratoath in recent years, said his approach in that situation would be to say, 'You know what? If you want to go on your J1, keep in the best possible shape that you can. Don't disrespect your body because you could be needed, but you'll earn it to come back, you won't walk into the team'.
The list also requires players based in Dublin and Limerick to travel home for training once a week from January.
19 October 2019; Shairoze Akram of Ballaghaderreen during the Mayo County Senior Club Football Championship Final match between Ballaghaderreen and Ballintubber at Elvery's MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
"At times, people forget that club [GAA] is an amateur sport, whatever about inter-county [players] getting some sort of expenses, club players get very little," said Shairoze Akram, an All-Ireland U21 Championship winner with Mayo who plays club football with Ballaghaderreen.
"I imagine a lot of them are students and already are going to be tight for money and then you're adding that additional cost of travelling. At the same time, you're asking them to fundraise. I imagine a whole pile of that won't be going to players for travelling.
"You need to see the bigger picture in terms of students and people working. Training can be done remotely. I'm based in Dublin and if I was expected to go and train in Ballaghaderreen, a two to two-and-a-half-hour drive up and down, I don't think I'd be able to commit.
"You could see a lot of players, if this was implemented in a lot of clubs, dropping off. It just isn't worth it. The fun aspect isn't there. It's more of a chore than [being about] enjoying the game of football."
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