Split Season a success says Floyd in final report

By Shane Brophy

Outgoing Tipperary GAA County Board secretary Tim Floyd has described the first split-season as “one of the most positive changes I have seen during my time as secretary.”

The Newport clubman was commenting in his final report as secretary which he will presented to County Convention in Thurles this Sunday, prior to stepping down at the end of the year, after sixteen years in the role, the second longest serving county secretary in Tipperary’s history following the legendary Tommy Barrett’s 37 years in the position.

“To have a schedule that clearly defines when your matches are, from start to finish, is a massive step forward,” he said.

“Being involved in with my own clubs this year I saw at first-hand the value of knowing your games schedule from start to finish.”

Commenting further on club matters, Floyd described the continued abuse of referees as disappointing.

“I hang my head in shame when I listen to the abuse I hear from side-lines, stands, banks and even players on the field,” he said.

“It’s time for zero tolerance, similar to what we see in rugby when the authority of the referee is never questioned.”

The contrasting emotions from the high of the All-Ireland Minor Hurling final success in July, to the tragic death of Dillon Quirke a month later, were to the fore in the comprehensive report.

2022 was largely a disappointing year at inter-county level for the Premier County, bar the All-Ireland success for the minor hurlers whom he described as lighting up 2022 with “displays of courage and character in the Munster Final and All-Ireland semi-final, culminating in a drama filled last few minutes in the All-Ireland final win over Offaly.”

However, the tragic passing of Tipperary hurler and Clonoulty/Rossmore clubman Dillon Quirke in August cast “a dark cloud over the GAA world” Tim said, with his passing overshadowing the remainder of the year in the county.

There was no comment on the decision to move on from Colm Bonnar as senior hurling manager after less than a year, while in senior football, despite promotion to division 3 of the National League being achieved in 2022, he is concerned over the player turnover in the panel since the 2020 Munster Final success.

Officer changes

There will be no election to any officer positions at Convention but there will be three changes due to term limits being reached with Eleanor Lahart (Killenaule) succeeding Michael Power as treasurer, Sean O’Meara (Mullinahone) replacing Tom Dawson as coaching officer, while former county chairperson Michael Bourke finishes his term as Central Council Representative and will be replaced by John Doyle (Holycross/Ballycahill) who will move up from Munster Council representative, to be replaced by current county chairperson Joe Kennedy who is entering into his final year in that role.

Motions

There are sixteen motions down for debate, some of which are procedural matters in relating to county by-laws but there are a number with national implications and could head to GAA Congress if passed, including a joint motion from four West Tipperary clubs to return underage grades to even ages with minor returning to under 18, where there is a growing call for nationally.

Nenagh Eire Og have put forward a motion to “definitively eliminate ball throwing from the sport of hurling” by proposing that it is a foul “to either hand-pass the ball or palm the ball directly from the same hand that is holding the ball.”

Burgess are proposing two motions, the first of which would be replacing the penalty shootout with an additional period of extra time with the first to two points winning, while they are also proposing an amendment to the tie-breaking rules when it comes to teams’ level on points and score difference