Great response to referees' recruitment drive
April 30, 2010Westmeath referees' coordinator Liam McDaniel has expressed delight with the response to the latest recruitment drive in the county.
Twenty-three new referees completed this year's foundation training course, which was the biggest number since the National Referees' Recruitment campaign was launched by then GAA president Nickey Brennan in 2006. Referee coordinators in all 32 counties are in charge of the initiative which is coordinated at provincial level by the referees' administrators in each of the provinces.
"We were very pleased with the response to this year's recruitment drive," McDaniel enthuses.
"We recruited eight new referees in 2009 - seven in football and one in hurling - and 23 trainee referees are just after finishing this year's foundation training course. We facilitated two referees from Longford on that course, but the rest are all from Westmeath. This county has a proud tradition in producing top-class referees and it would be great if some of our latest recruits could go on to referee an All-Ireland final some day. That is the pinnacle for any referee," the former Kilbeggan and Westmeath footballer adds.
McDaniel, or 'Rasher' as he's known in local GAA circles, stresses the need to maintain the recruitment drive over the next few years, insisting that Westmeath cannot "rest on their laurels".
"You always have to be on the lookout for new referees; you cannot become complacent," he says.
"We ran our own in-service course for existing referees over two nights recently and 48 referees attended. That's more than one referee for every club, but it has to be said that some clubs aren't as good at supplying referees as others.
"There was a need in every county to recruit new referees because the age-profile of referees in general had been getting higher. There is an age limit of 50 now for referees at national level, but I'm glad that wasn't extended to local level because it gives people like our own Terry O'Dowd and JJ Brady a lot of enjoyment and they are still two of our best referees."
McDaniel feels a decline in indiscipline has helped to attract new referees to the GAA.
"While indiscipline is still a problem, the games have cleaned up an awful lot and, in general, players, supporters and managers now have greater respect for referees than they had 10 years ago.
"It's important to have a big panel of referees because it ensures that the games can go ahead. The situation has improved drastically on when I was playing. Back then, it was a regular occurrence for games to be cancelled because of referees failing to turn up. That would never happen now and if it did, it would be due to a mix-up of some kind.
"There is nothing more annoying for players than games to be called off because of a referee failing to show. But that rarely happens nowadays."
As well as thanking the referees for their commitment, McDaniel is appreciate of the support received from the Westmeath county board and the Referees' Association.
"We get great support from the county board who have kindly sponsored training tops for the referees in recent years. Paddy Collins is regarded as one of the greatest football referees of all-time and he always makes himself available when it comes to giving advice and encouragement.
"Another man I would like to thank is minor board secretary Michael McHugh, who has been a huge help to us in organising the foundation courses.
"The Referees' Association, which is chaired by Sean Sheridan, organises social events and awards ceremonies. It provides a social outlet for the referees and also supplies them with whistles, notebooks and so on."
Liam, whose son Thomas was a member of the Westmeath under 21 team which contested this year's Leinster final, is proud of the fact that the Lake County currently supplies Pat Fox (Rosemount), Barry Kelly (St. Oliver Plunkett's), James McGrath (Turin), Sean Carroll (The Downs) and Rob Cornally (St. Oliver Plunkett's) to the national panel of referees, and Peter Daly (Athlone), Mick Mannion (Garrycastle), Niall Ward (Garrycastle) and Damien Maher (Ballynacargy) to the Leinster panel.
"We continue to produce some of the top referees in the game and this is recognised in the games they are appointed to," he adds.
Barry Kelly is Westmeath's most high-profile referee at present. An inter-county referee since 1998, he took charge of the All-Ireland minor hurling final in 2000 and has since refereed two All-Ireland senior hurling finals (2005 and 2008) as well as Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Inter-provincial finals.
Last year, the Mullingar man's big hurling assignments included the All-Ireland semi-final between Kilkenny and Waterford, the historic Leinster semi-final clash between Kilkenny and Galway and the Munster semi-final involving Tipperary and Cork.
Although seven years younger, James McGrath's refereeing career has run parallel to Kelly's, having also commenced in 1998. He too boasts an impressive CV which includes last year's All-Ireland club hurling final between Portumna and De La Salle and the All-Ireland minor final between Galway and Kilkenny.
"2009 was a good year for me in the sense that I got two of the bigger games in hurling," the 32-year-old says.
"Taking charge of the All-Ireland minor hurling final was the highlight of my career to date. Both teams went out to play hurling and it made my job very easy to be honest. I also refereed the Leinster senior quarter-final between Dublin and Antrim which was Antrim's first time to play a Leinster championship match. I refereed the relegation clash between Clare and Wexford as well, but it proved to be meaningless after the GAA later decided that no team would be relegated to the Christy Ring Cup."
The Athlone-based schoolteacher, whose umpires are Davy Clune, David Hennessy, Tom McNicholas, Johnny Fitzpatrick and occasionally Jimmy Weldon, now hopes to follow in Barry Kelly's footsteps by taking charge of a Liam McCarthy Cup decider, but isn't banking on it happening straight away.
"Refereeing an All-Ireland senior final is the ultimate ambition for any referee, and I'm no different. But I'm realistic enough to know that a lot of things have to go your way for it to happen. I have yet to referee a senior championship game in Munster, and until such time as that happens, I cannot expect to get an All-Ireland final.
"I refereed Limerick v Cork, Galway v Offaly and Tipperary v Cork in this year's National League so hopefully I'll be in the shake-up for a Munster championship game this summer."
As an inter-county referee, McGrath regularly undergoes rigorous fitness tests, while his performances are also assessed. At a recent seminar, sports psychologist Gordon Ryan spoke to the referees about issues such as retaining concentration, mental toughness and how best to deal with distractions from players, managers and the crowd.
"It's become very professional, but I suppose that's to be expected because the players have also gone down that road," he concludes.
Football referees Pat Fox and Sean Carroll have also been busy of late. Last year, Fox refereed the Leinster championship first round tie between Louth and Carlow and the All-Ireland qualifier between Down and London. The Rosemount clubman also took charge of the recent Hogan Cup final, a competition he had won as a player with Carmelite College, Moate. Carroll, meanwhile, was the 'man in the middle' for the recent All-Ireland junior club football final between Castlegregory of Kerry and Mayo's Kiltimagh. Tweet
