“Kids want to play soccer, rugby…they need to be told no.” – Baffling comments from county board member

There's a culture of this sort of thing in Ireland and it doesn't help anybody.

How many times have we read interviews from our top sports-persons, be it in soccer, rugby or GAA, who cite the fact that their multi-sport playing upbringing has contributed to their success? Living in a country where sport is very much ingrained into the fabric of our culture has huge advantages. The physical, mental and social benefits of playing sport from a young age are well documented and proven. So why does a completely selfish philosophy exist in parts of this country when it comes to the sports in which children participate in? Of course, each sporting code is going to do their best to encourage children to partake in that particular sport, that much is obvious and there is nothing wrong with that. However, once you enter the unacceptable territory of pressurising children with an ultimatum when it comes to the choice of a particular sport, then something is blatantly wrong. This mentality is prevalent, in that of the mind of Laois GAA county board member, Kieran Leavy. Laois Today reports that at a recent county board meeting, Leavy agreed with the idea that the GAA were doing little to prevent other sports from flourishing and he came out with some pretty deplorable comments in relation to his opinion regarding this.

“If a young lad comes and says he is going to play soccer, he needs to be told ‘alright, go but we don’t want you anymore’. “I know that sounds terrible but it is my opinion. We are going to have to draw our battleground because there is a war coming."

Even describing this scenario about sports competing for children's participation as a "war", something which has always occurred, is archaic and full of hyperbole. Let alone, the implementation of this philosophy would surely have the opposite effect of its intention. If you tell a child that you don't want them anymore, regardless of the circumstances, how is he or she going to feel? They will feel neglected and isolated, the two very things that you would want to avoid when it comes to a child's upbringing. Leavy then attempted to add substance to his argument by claiming that children are being sold dreams of a professional lifestyle, which we doubt occurs to a significant extent which is leading to the drop in children taking part in Gaelic Games:

“Kids want to play soccer, rugby and others and they need to be told no.... "...What is happening in the soccer clubs and rugby clubs is that the kids are being told ‘oh you’re going to be picked for the Leinster squad’ and this sounds great to them. "

Perhaps Leavy should first take a look at his way of thinking as the potential source for the drop in children participating in Gaelic Games. Kids should be encouraged to play whatever sport they so wish and when the time comes for the decision to be made with regards to what sport to focus on, that decision should be entirely up to them.