after a period of reflection and consideration i have agreed to the request of moderators to utilise my business acumen and accumulated life experience for the betterment of the forum. I was approached by a senior delegation of moderators and have agreed a format that will allow this community to tap into the reservoir of my knowledge, i believe in giving back to the community. I hereby welcome you to Funtime’s Root and Branch Reform.
In this thread i will take organisations and institutions that we are passionate about but have fallen on tough times and develop a blueprint for survival and growth.
THose who know me will be aware I don’t suffer fools gladly and the hard hitting business advice i dispense can be difficult for some to accept; as is the nature of tough love. My format will be a mixture of Dragons Den and Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares.
I will only tackle subjects and organisations that are dear to my heart, a distressed moderator called me yesterday evening on the result of the unfolding Offaly GGA crisis and seemed exasperated at how the GGA could be reformed. As a result i have agreed to spend a number of days examining this organisation and charting a path to survival. I am happy to take your collective input but ultimately my business acumen will be deployed to deliver a blueprint for survival after a weekend of analysis and investigation.
Those who love the GGA should brace themselves for some tough love.
We couldn’t have asked for more. I look forward to your findings/,ramblings.
Does all advice boil down to directions of where thumbs should be placed?
The survival of what? You talk about the gga, the betterment of the forum, organisations that are dear to us and organisations that are close to your heart. You’re all over the place here. A very poor opening statement imnsho
I think you need a mission statement.
An early circling of the lambasters here. For a man with nothing but good intentions on a mission of peace and analysis. Content to sit on a gate post, buzzards waiting for the carcass to pick.
You’ve seen his other posts, yeah?
One example of his peace keeping missionary work:
Gas!
He’s only got one post in the entire thread. Seems a generous enouhh offer.
I’m sure there is latent talent among many posters so would be interesting to see how this is illustrated in this particular thread.
Fire on funtime, fair play.
A great idea. Are you open to headings that might be discussed here?
I’ll propose a reduction to 13 a-side for openers.
Naysayers to this progressive initiative aren’t really welcome until we reach the discussion module.
does any of this involve upgrading from a 3T to AFPC?
A decade in the boardroom has taught me to listen to all suggestions , even from the most unlikely sources
Finance is an issue for the gga organisation but my advice will be free , giving back is important once one has achieved corporate success
The lads on the fringes of a starting 15 will be shuffling nervously at that suggestion.
Managing change is something that presents challenges for many
@Funtime I’m after a period of reflection myself and have come to the conclusion after dealing with actual human beings for longer than I feel I can maintain into the future I’m going to put my substantial resources behind developing RPA technology for everyday practical retail use. All advice will no doubt be ignored but I’ve decided to indulge you for the time being. What says you ?
I would like to apologise to the forum for the delay in issuing my survival blueprint for the Gaelic Athletic Association.
Upon speaking with a moderator some legal advice has been sought, there are some within the Croke Park establishment for whom change represents a threat to their vested interests, and my blueprint unsurprisingly seeks widespread and deep rooted reforms.
I have also been in touch with an actuarial colleague who i asked to look over the numbers i had produced, I should get confirmation back imminently that my blueprint stands up to the rigours of financial scrutiny.
finally i want to acknowledge that this has been challenging for me. I am rarely so emotionally invested in a project and I do appreciate that root and branch reform presents difficulties for those of us who love this game. I am open to criticism, “hey Funtime your famously well regarded strategic radar is off there” or “hey funtime, I appreciate you have a track record of boardroom success but i dont think you have taken all the variables into account here”. I can live with this but please, please dont knee jerk react to suggestions of reform and question my love for the game and this association.
I am deeply rooted to The Association, on one end of the scale i have a brother who hauls his ageing body up to the pitch of a saturday for the sheer love of playing the game, on the other end my best friend played Sigeruson level and was a rising star before drifting from the game because of how we structured our Association. I have a nephew who may well play inter-county but I know that in Dublin the strength of football clubs means they will try to lure him away from the GAA. I live and breathe the challenges of our Association.
So my blueprint will be released tomorrow, change has few friends and many enemies, but if you love the sport the way i do you will open your mind to reform.
my blueprint for survival, aka the Root and Branch Reform of the GAA, contains 5 key recommendations. A mid ranking moderator has suggested that the recommendations be fed at interval to the forum so that they can afford them greater consideration.
Problem 1
GAA popularity confined to a declining portion of Ireland’s population
Those who are familiar with my corporate profile will appreciate my grasp of marco demographics. It is evident from my research that Gaelic Games have failed to gain any real traction outside of a white, Catholic and mainly rural base, that identify as Irish. While some progress has been made across genders, the GAA has been at pains to roll out an Iraqi who trains twice a week in Leitrim in hurling and some other high profile but substanceless inroads into the new Irish population. Inroads into the LBGTQI community are miniscule. Rural Ireland’s population is in decline, so is Catholic Ireland. New migrants represent a growing portion of our population and we are losing out to other sports who have international appeal. The Irish football team in a recent friendly had 3 players on the pitch at the end of Nigerian heritage, with more from other backgrounds. Some of this has to do with the appeal of the game (dealt with in forthcoming points) but it also has to do with GAA clubs only making token efforts to attract the New Irish.
OK Funtime thanks for the hard hitting analysis but enough about the diagnosis, where is the solution?*
force GAA clubs to recruit more New Irish and to broaden their appeal. Do this by impacting results.
In league and Championship any point scored by a non-Irish male white is awarded 2 points, goals by same are awarded 4 points.
In discussing this proposal with @thedancingbaby my understanding is that in horse racing a precedent for this form of weighting exists, an amaterur jockey may carry less weight than a professional he tells me.
An alternative approach is that in the event of a tie, the number of non-Catholic players on each side is totalled and the result awarded to the most inclusive club.
This will force clubs to step outside their cocoon and embrace an inclusive Ireland or lose out on matches.
The above represents a significant departure from how the GAA continues to operate but the Association and those who love it must overcome the initial reaction and grasp this lifeline before we slide to demographic ethno-national irrelevancy.
I expect the usual reaction from those who are happy with the status quo, but if you really want the Association to change its fortunes then get behind this proposal.
Worth the wait
Allow counti4s in the 80% of the country that dont play hurling to sign players from the 6 hurling counties