IN ALL FAIRNESS - Team sports will be the last to resume
IN ALL FAIRNESS
Don't be in a rush to make plans to get back to sporting action post May 5th.
While the current public health restrictions on movement last until then, they won't be lifted completely and the growing feeling is that until a vaccine is developed to counteract Covid-19 sport as we know it will be curtailed.
The comments from Minister for Health Simon Harris and the countries Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Colm Henry last weekend that large gatherings of people will be unlikely for a considerable period of time sent chills down the spines of all sports loving people.
We know things aren't going to return to normal for some time to come but having some hope that we can go to some sort of sporting event in the near future is what is keeping many people going.
If you are to believe the public health experts that Ireland's peak in terms of the coronavirus outbreak was to come between April 10th-14th, and if the restrictions that have been in place since March 29th have had an impact, the county should be in a situation come the first Tuesday in May to ease some of the restrictions and allow some sectors of society to function once more, such as construction, hardware & paint stores, etc...
The only sport likely to be on this list will be golf as it allows for physical distancing and it would certainly provide an outlet for many indulge in a sporting activity while getting valuable exercise in the process.
Whether it will be the time for behind closed doors events to take place is debateable but the fact that horse & greyhound racing took place successfully with stringent physical distancing measures prior to the lockdown may prove a chance for its economy to get back up and running but considering the negative publicity horse racing has gotten for allowing the Cheltenham Festival to go ahead last month, it might be left on the naughty step for a few weeks yet.
Sadly for GAA, soccer and rugby fans, team sports are likely to be the last on the list of sports to be allowed to resume even competitive training again. It was encouraging last week to see German football clubs allowed resume training, despite it being restricted to small groups and even at this stage players would take it at this stage.
If some leeway were given come May 5th for teams to train in that capacity it would be virtually starting gun for the return to normality, whatever that is. Training in small groups is a lot different than playing games and it common belief is that it is hard to see any return to competitive action before the middle of June.
Indeed there is now an acceptance in terms of the GAA that when live sport is permitted once more that club action will be the first to resume because of the smaller numbers involved at games. However, there could be a stage initially where supporters might not be let into venues and for a time we could return to the 1940's and 50's where people gathered around their radios to listen to commentaries of club games, or in a modern sense, live streaming of club games on computers.
It is just some of the ways sport may have to adapt in the coming months until such time as a vaccine for the coronavirus is found.
The GAA took its first step on Friday to come up with a plan for the remainder of the year by tasking a special committee to draw up proposals for how the calendar will look like for the remainder of the year, provided games can restart at some stage, as the FAI have set a target for with the League of Ireland which certainly looks a realistic one at this stahe.
Whatever proposals are come up with, they have got to strike a balance between club and inter-county. Club was already squeezed as it is and if the rumours are true that counties will have just eight weeks to complete county championships, counties like Tipperary who have a large number of dual clubs will be impacted more dramatically than others.
There should be fair an equitable timeframe put in place where clubs get three months from July to September with October to December for inter-county, by which time large gatherings up to a certain number maybe permitted at stadiums. Winter championships might not be ideal but all majority inter-county grounds would be able to host games at this time of the year and while they may not be championship conditions, you can be sure the demand to be there, or watching them on television or whatever medium will be there after being denied their fix for much of the year.