A club footballer known to Balls returned to kick ball in Ireland in the last couple of years, having spent more than a decade in Australia. Following his first full training session, replete with a lengthy stretching routine, said player remarked, "When I went to Australia, there were no such things as glutes". Judging by documents released by the GAA today, injuries to the glutes are on the rise.
The GAA today published their financial reports for 2017, and under the figures for the injury benefit fund. Here come the figures.
Total income for the fund was €8,723,079, derived from team contributions, a levy on gate receipts, and interest. Expenditure totalled €8,258,155, €6,841,253 of which was paid out in claims and expenses. A further €381,667 was spent on Administration fees, €1 million was repaid to Central Council, while €35,235 was spent as a contribution to the Injury Benefit Fund in Britain.
The report also shines on a light on the most common injuries in the GAA, or at least those which lead to claims most often.
Most Common Injuries in the GAA
Knee injuries are by far the most common - last year 2,251 knee injuries were claimed, with the second most frequent followed by ankle (545), leg (505), and shoulder (489).
Hip injuries are the next most frequent: 292 in total in 2017, 204 of which came at adult football level. Crazily, 12 of them came at youth football level.
Elsewhere, buttocks injuries have rocketed by 600% - up from one to six. In better news, testicle injuries are down from 11 to nine.
The full breakdown is available in the GAA's financial report for 2017.
