Knockmore manager slams Mayo LGFA fixtures

THE manager of the Knockmore ladies senior football team says that playing each round of the Mayo LGFA club championship back-to-back is ‘not fair on players’.
Speaking to The Mayo News following his side’s nine-point win over Carnacon last Sunday, Cormac Reape claimed that player welfare has been jeopardised by not having any rest weeks between championship games.
Reape said his side will have played six weeks in a row if they are to reach their third county final in as many years.
Knockmore claimed the Division 1 Mayo Senior League title at the expense of Westport on Sunday week last in a game that went to extra-time.
Reape explained that Knockmore had just one training session prior to their championship meeting with Carnacon due to the short turnaround after the league final.
Under this year’s fixture calendar, teams in both four-team senior championship groups do not have a break between any of their group games.
The semi-finals and finals will subsequently be played off in successive weeks without any rest weeks for teams.
“We played 80-plus minutes last week, a six-day turnaround basically to play a championship game against Carnacon, who had a week off last week. We’ve another six days. The way the championship is shaped this year in Mayo, it’s not fair on players,” said Reape.
“We talk about player welfare issues and that kind of stuff, but if you’re to reach a county final this year, you’re playing five weeks in a row.
“I’m not saying any of us are going to reach a county final, but that’s six weeks in a row. It’s not fair on these girls. We’re just talking there, we’re trying to set up training in Kiltoom on Tuesday night and we don’t know if it’s the right thing to go again, because we’re trying to look after and try and keep them as fresh as possible.
“But look, we’ve known this for a while, we have to deal with it too.”
Speaking to The Mayo News yesterday, Mayo LGFA Chairman Des Phillips said that the later scheduling of county underage fixtures left organisers with no alternative but to fix each championship round back-to-back.
A meeting is to take place in Croke Park later this week with a view to moving intercounty underage fixtures forward to make room for more club action later in the year.
“Connacht changed all underage fixtures this year. Connacht Minor and Under-16 would normally be over in May - the first week in May, second week in May - now they extended it out this year. Clubs didn’t want to play without their Minor players, so they were playing for county or Under-16. So the only alternative was to put them back-to-back because you could play the league games during the Leaving Cert or wherever. It was really just a fixture pileup,” said Phillips.
“Our finals are on the 14th/15th of October. The winners then is out in Connacht two weeks later, so that was the only way we could play them off. Club won’t play their games midweek because girls are away,” he added.
Club action is also forbidden on the week of the All-Ireland finals are players are not covered by insurance. 
Philips admitted that the situation was ‘unfortunate’ and ‘not ideal’ for clubs.
“But I suppose every club is in the same position with it, that’s the only thing. There’s no club being punished any more than the other,” he said.