Thirty years ago, during my policing days, I often travelled to Mosney for the national finals of the Community Games just to lend a hand. My role mas mainly that of delivery man, bringing the kit, food and supplies for the Cork contingent to the Co. Meath venue in the garda community relations minibus.
The late Mary Connolly, her husband Ray and son Derek were actively involved in the community games in those days and were also involved in pretty much everything else that was happening in the Mayfield area, and we became good friends. Mary had a great way of getting what she wanted and after having tea with her one day, I left the house scratching my head and wondering how I had been talked into heading to Meath with a fully laden van.
Anyway, during one of those weekends, the finals of the tennis were due to take place, but they had no umpire. Knowing that tennis was my pastime, they nominated me to step in. I don’t recall any discussion taking place, it was more of an instruction.
I took my place courtside on the highchair while the kids were warming up and it’s worth remembering that they were just children. The match started, and we weren’t long into it when some of the parents started getting over excited. At one stage I lost track of the score, but I wasn’t concerned because at that age, kids are well able to keep track themselves and are usually very honest. The mistake I made was verbalising the fact I didn’t know the score by asking the kids.
Some of the parents seemed to take this as a personal insult. They moaned and groaned and a few hurled insults at me. They were attempting to outdo each other in the cheerleader stakes and seemed to lose sight of the fact that it was a game, and these youngsters were supposed to be enjoying themselves and having fun. I sat there for a couple of hours before deciding there and then that officiating wasn’t for me.
That pales into insignificance when compared to the behaviour of the modern-day parent. There was a report in the Irish Examiner recently about a child being assaulted during a hurling match. The child was under nine years of age and was participating in a hurling blitz when it is reported he had been hurt after a nonplaying individual entered the playing area and allegedly grabbed the child by the throat.
The gardai were contacted after the incident and the Munster Council is investigating the alleged assault which follows a series of flashpoints at club games in recent months. Former GAA president Sean Kelly MEP said the GAA “needs to get a grip” on the problem of abuse through stiffer penalties, to show it is not acceptable for adults to behave this way.
Mr Kelly also called for each club to establish its own code of conduct and make it known to players, officials, and parents that it is “not acceptable to abuse referees or players.” I completely agree with his comments but unfortunately these calls for action are regularly made but continue to fall on deaf ears.
Roscommon GAA is investigating an incident involving an altercation with a referee during a minor championship match. The referee, who was officiating at the underage game, required medical attention after he was allegedly assaulted during the second half of the game. An ambulance was called, and the match was subsequently abandoned.
In other incidents, a referee and an umpire were subjected to violent behaviour following a junior A group game in Wexford town recently and there was another incident in an U17 game later the same day. The referee is regarded as one of the most experienced in Wexford and was allegedly attacked at the end of the game. He was hospitalised in the wake of the incident and released the following day after suffering from concussion.
This problem isn’t just limited to the GAA. Earlier this year, the Dublin Branch of the Irish Soccer Referees Society condemned an assault on a referee in his sixties and announced they had withdrawn their services to a particular club after an incident involving one of their officials.
They said the referee, was chased onto the field of play and assaulted. The official was refereeing the game alone, and the Referees Society said the incident could have been worse had it not been for the intervention of members of the opposing team.
There was another incident during a match in the west of Ireland involving an adult non-player and an under-17 player. This led to one of the clubs being removed from the competition and fined €1000 but the club was later reinstated, and the fine was reduced to €250 while one of the players had his ban reduced from 96 weeks to just two.
That doesn’t send out a very positive message about the intent to tackle bad behaviour and we’re not going to see an improvement until incidents like these are taken seriously. There seems to be a culture in many sports that all’s fair in love and war. It’s only high jinks. Heat of the moment kind of stuff, nothing to see here, move along.
It’s contagious. Footballers have been disrespecting soccer officials for many years and it’s getting worse. Premiership football managers, and their support staff, are also getting in on the act with unruly behaviour in the technical areas and being sent to the tunnel is almost seen as a badge of honour. But that’s not the example they should be setting.
Competitive spirit and a desire to win are necessary in sport but violence and abuse is not acceptable in any sporting occasion, particularly when children are involved.