Kinawley Brian Boru’s starlet Paul Breen believes the return of club action will be warmly welcomed across the vast majority of clubs but he is aware that there will be a fear among a number of players that until a vaccine is found, it may not be totally safe to resume full training so he urges everyone to be cautious of their actions when they begin to mingle in large groups again.

 

“I think it may be difficult for clubs to deal with this. I think for any regulation to be successfully implemented, everyone across each club will have to act cautiously and responsibly until a vaccine is found.”

 

“The vast majority of people across the GAA will welcome the return of sport as a welcome distraction. I do think there will be a lingering sense of fear until a vaccine is found but I trust that clubs will have the health and wellbeing of their members as their only priority in any decision they make.”

 

Aghadrumsee St Macartan’s sharp-shooter Eddie Courtney believes the new regulations and protocols set out in the ‘Safe Return to Gaelic Games’ roadmap is expecting a lot from clubs to try to implement all these new rules and he is hoping people are mindful themselves of the rules to take some pressure off the club officials and volunteers.

 

“I think no matter what size of club. It will be very hard to police that everyone will be following the correct protocols but the onus has to fall onto the individual, whether that is a player, manager, groundskeeper or spectator to take all precautions put in place by your own club and the GAA.

 

Especially us as players, if there are any symptoms of the virus that we immediately step away, regardless of what fixtures are planned to take place because it could end shutting the games down which none of us want.” 

Courtney is aware that there are some players who may be wary about returning to full training too soon and he urges anyone with underlying conditions or elderly dependents to be conscious of their actions and don’t feel under any pressure or onus to return if they don’t feel safe doing so.

 

“With regards to full contact training I suppose we are all itching to get back at it. It is important to remember that it is the player’s choice as to how much they want to be involved in, especially for this first period. Those with underlying conditions or going home to elderly parents would want to air on the side of caution.

 

It is a decision that has to be made by each individual player. In my own case, I would be happy to start but that may not be the case for other players.”