Women paying €22 a game to play gaelic football is "madness” - insists Portlaoise manager who wants change

Stephen Duff is one of the most successful up-and-coming coaches on the Ladies Gaelic Football scene in Laois.

Success with Portlaoise in 2020 and 2022 has made the last couple of years very enjoyable for the young Ballyfin coach. It was the first time the club had success at senior level.

But he started by discussing his own playing days.

“As a player, I was never much good but always showed up, always giving it 100 percent effort. I was probably a thorn in the manager’s side at the time. They probably felt they needed to play me because I always showed up. But they would have appreciated my commitment," he said.

Stephen admits to being taken aback when coaching was suggested.

"I was still young enough when one of the managers in Ballyfin asked me if I would consider coaching. I was a little bit offended at the time because I thought I still had loads to give as a player. But he was dead right in his reasoning. I had a mind and knowledge of the game but my legs were not able to carry it out," he said.

So coaching it was and he started out with the Ballyfin Ladies team whom he coached for two years. He soon caught the bug for life on the line.

"That was really the start of my journey," said Stephen.

But like many coaches there's always another team on the horizon and Portlaoise was that destination.

"I would have had connections with a few of the Portlaoise players from college and school. I would have been friends with the likes of Alison Taylor, Aisling Saunders. I had a role with Laois for a year as well so I got to know a few more of the Portlaoise girls. After the year ended with Laois, a few of the Portlaoise girls made a recommendation to Portlaoise, trying to get me involved with them. That’s kind of how the Portlaoise gig came about, It was a very natural progression.

“We were involved in 2020 when the club won its first championship. That was fantastic and it was a great way to break the duct. It was a bit different that year than in 2022. In 2020 we won every game in a canter where as in 2022, we had a few tight games and ultimately we were going into the final as underdogs against a very strong Conleth’s side. I was worried about how the girls would handle the underdog tag but they did. It was brilliant," he said. More below photo 

Stephens’s stint as Portlaoise manager hasn’t been all plain sailing. The team came under the spotlight when they were forced to play a refixed 2020 Leinster final three days before the opening round of the 2021 Laois Championship. They lost the Leinster final, drew the opening game of the county championship, and were on the back foot for the rest of the year.

“The rescheduling period for that Leinster final was a long drawn out process. Covid had its part to play which is fair enough, but then the match was refixed to be played during the leaving cert, which was a non-runner for us as quite a young team. The next date that was set clashed with a Laois fixture, so girls would have had to choose whether they played county or club, again.

"We didn’t think that was fair, so in the end, playing that game three days before the Laois championship kicked off was the best scenario that we were offered. But it did dampen us and put us on the back foot for the rest of the year,” he said.

Over the coming weeks, the Laois LGFA will be meeting to look at and possibly revise the current fixture schedule and the number of games that each club will get per year. In the calendar year in 2022 senior ladies clubs in Laois were only guaranteed six games.

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Portlaoise won all their games to claim the championship but still only played nine competitive games in 2022. There is a guideline from the LGFA that adult clubs should be getting 15 games in a year. The number of games that Laois teams are getting falls well below that number.

Stephen has been very vocal on the issue and put work into into resolving. He also appreciates that the Laois LGFA are doing all they can to rectify the matter and it will hopefully be put right sooner rather than later.

“As it stands Portlaoise players pay €130 euro in membership. Other clubs would have similar rates. If you divide that membership fee by the 6 games that teams are guaranteed, that’s €22 a game. It's madness.

“Every year since beginning in coaching, I’ve had this issue with the number of games that the top level clubs in Laois Ladies football are getting but I’ve never done anything about it. I felt this year was the year where I needed to convey that message to the county board. They have been very helpful and seem to have a willingness and drive to put this right. But it is a very slow process and hopefully, by shining a light on this issue we can reach our end goal," he says.

Stephen outlines a way to sort the problem

“What I'd like to see being brought in, and this proposal has gotten a lot of support around the county is one group of eight teams for the league. You’ll then have your semi-final and final and relegation play-off. The league would start in mid-March and be wrapped up by the end of June. When Championship rolls around, you have two groups of four teams.

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"The top two go into the semi-finals and the finals finish at the end of September. It would mean that teams are at least guaranteed 10 games, which would be a huge improvement. At that stage, a divisional championship could be looked at around November to further game time, but my focus so far has been trying to increase the club fixtures. With this fixture meeting coming up soon with the Laois county board, we must draw attention to this issue, and hopefully, that will help get it resolved," he concludes.