Posted by Gahman
on 27/11/2007, 1:46 am
I would be interested in what people think of whether or not it would be a good idea for the Co Board to introduce a watchdog system for monitoring clubs as regards the way they run themselves at committee level, adhere to constituitions etc etc etc.
Hear me out..... Clubs build themselves using an army of volunteers,good GAA people, good sports people, parents and many more. All of this work is channelled through a committee and ultimately a chairman of the club. The responsability lying on the shoulders of these committees and chairmen is massive, particularly in the larger clubs. The running of clubs the size of say, Ballyboden, Crokes, Brigids and the likes could be compared to the running of a large business. And here lies the potential problem. Clubs seem to go through good spells and bad spells regarding quality people at the top at committee level. If there is any apathy within a club, the wrong people can seize control of a club and cause untold damage. One or two individuals can be limited in their doings but if they are given enough leeway, it can only spell trouble for the club.
Take for example at a recent AGM of a club that is going through a phase whereby a whole regime of good quality committee people have taken a step back from things after years of excellent service, the chairman started the meeting by saying- I know we dont have a quoram but if no one objects we will keep going with the meeting. This was followed by him nominating people from the floor for positions on the executive who should have been nominated like the others, 3 weeks before in writing to the Secretary. To make matters worse, during a debate on a motion to increase the price of membership, a member pointed out the fact that the wording of the motion included an exception of this increase for OAP's and Students but did not include the Unemployed, the chairmans response was that there is no excuse in this day and age to be unemployed, that there are thousands of foreigners able to get jobs so they should too. The final nail in the coffin was when it was pointed out to him that 2 girls thinking of joining the club decided to join another because the membership was more affordable, his response was that we could do with less players and teams in the club because it would be cheaper to run.....
Now, If there was a facility whereby a County Board official from a committee set up to monitor club committees was to attend club AGM's and random Executive meetings, perhaps it would help thwart situations like this from arising. It would also monitor whether clubs are adhering to the GAA constituition or not.
What ya think???
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