GAA COLUMN: Volunteering needs to be made fashionable again

Daithi Gallagher of the Mayo County Board said something at their monthly meeting last week that stuck with me. Talking about the new CEO appointment, he said the person needs to "make volunteering fashionable again." Great line. Catchy too.

From a marketing perspective, you can have an awful lot of fun with that. Sounds a bit MAGA-ish. Get the red and green caps with MVFA embroidered on the front. The sentiment is great. But on a more serious note, it got me thinking about the state of volunteerism in Mayo, and Ireland in general. And to be honest with you, it's quite sad.

Mayo GAA, the primary sporting organisation in the county, are struggling to get volunteers. But they're not alone. Every club and organisation faces the same problem. We're from the West of Ireland and the Meitheal spirit is rooted deep in us. It's part of our culture. Part of who we are. Part of our history. That's how we survived.

Where Did It Go?

Community volunteering is something I'm passionate about. That passion was instilled in me by my father, my grandfather, and my uncle. All lifelong volunteers in their communities. I've been involved in different volunteer organisations myself. Most notably the GAA at underage coaching level, at executive level, and at various charity events. I know firsthand how difficult it is to get people to volunteer. To help out. To do something. It's like pulling hens' teeth.

There is a clear communication problem that impacts the issue. It's so easy to ignore a message. Ignore a phone call. Say you're too busy and that's it.

There’s no better way to get help than pick up the phone or ask a person face to face. But things have changed. We don't do that much anymore. From an underage point of view, trying to get coaches involved is always difficult. It can, for some, be seen as babysitting time. Drop the kids off, head away, come back later. Fair enough, some need to do that.

Whilst at adult level, trying to organise fundraisers or projects brings out another problem. Everyone is quick to point out ideas. Share their opinions on how to do things. Criticise when things aren't done a specific way or how they like.

Yet you ask these people to give a hand on a Saturday morning and they're nowhere to be seen. Radio silence. Excuses for why they're not free.

TOO BUSY OR TOO LAZY?

Everyone says they're too busy. The stock answer. Sure, everyone is busy these days. But 95% of people are not too busy to volunteer a couple of hours every week to give back to the community. That's not being too busy. That's being too lazy, let’s call a spade a spade. There is a big difference between the two. People have gotten lazy. They're not willing to volunteer anymore. They look around expecting everyone else to do their bit while they sit back happy to just avoid the hassle. 

That’s where credit must also go to the members of the County Board. More often than not this columnist is criticising them in these pages. They get slaughtered online on a regular basis. Yes, some criticism is often due, but it goes unsaid that they are the ones giving up their free time.

We're from a small club in Balla. We don't have huge numbers, so we don't have a huge pool of volunteers. Even trying to get people to fill executive roles at the club is difficult. If you asked anyone to take over as chairman or secretary, they'd run a mile. The secretary role in particular is demanding. A lot of work to it. No one wants to take that on. We're extremely lucky to have someone like John Holian in Balla. He has served the club tirelessly down through the years. He does whatever is asked of him.

There are other great volunteers who work in the background too. People you don't see. The pitch committee for example - Gerry O'Neill, Declan Flanagan, Tommy Welsh. The late Peadar Dempsey, and since his passing, his son James is stepping into that role.

UNFASHIONABLE DIRTY WORK

These people give up their free time to look after the pitch. Make sure it's good for the young boys and girls who want to train every week. Make sure there's an avenue where parents drop their kids off. But these people are dying out. There aren't these people around anymore.

The Balla GAA AGM took place the weekend. The chairman role was up for nomination after James Armstrong, another life-long clubman, stepped aside following a great tenure in charge, No line of volunteers stepped forward to lead the club into its next phase. Fortunately, an ambitious young person in Dean Kenny accepted the nomination. That will no doubt make him the youngest chairperson in the county at 25 years old. He's Alan Dillon's right-hand man. A fella primed for a long career in politics himself. We're lucky to have young people like him. There are few.

Which brings me to young people in general. I don't want to sound like the old grumpy man giving out about kids these days. That's not what this is. But young people today don't know the meaning of volunteering. I believe one of the main reasons is because they don't see it enough from their parents. Maybe it's a social thing. A byproduct of how their generation prefer to live their lives behind screens. They're not exposed to it. They don't see people rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in. That's not cutting. That's just an observation. And it's on all of us to change it.

People need to realise the seriousness of this issue. If we lose the volunteer aspect, if we lose the volunteer spirit, we're going to lose our games. People need to stop looking around and expecting everyone else to volunteer and do their bit, or at least ask themselves if they can do that bit more.  That line from President Kennedy comes to mind. It's cringe, but it's true.

The GAA is built on volunteerism. If that foundation starts to give way, we have no future.

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