Trouble between the sticks

TWO East Clare men, who have given many years to their GAA clubs, believe they have come up with a solution to what is currently proving to be a big problem in GAA games.
In the early part of this decade, Feakle native Michael McMahon served as a mentor with the U-12 hurlers in Tulla where he resides.
“At this level, young lads tend to follow the ball and not stay in their positions. The mentors with our team used to split up and take different positions in order to keep the players where they should be. I used to be behind the goals dealing with the backs. Referees would rarely have umpires so, more often than not, I would end up being asked to act as umpire as well,” Michael explained this week.
He went on to recall, “We were playing the ‘Mills and one of their players came through and I expected that he was going for goal. I was standing by the post. He drove the ball over the bar but I didn’t know whether it was a point or wide. Our goalie Niall Bolton told me that it was a point”.
“I then realised how difficult it is for umpires at times. If a 12-year-old could cause such confusion, what would the likes of Eoin Kelly do. That was when the idea of putting netting up all the way on the upright came to mind. I was friendly with Padraig Giblin and I went to him with my idea but he told me that universities were looking at something that would resolve the problem. That was in 2004,” according to Michael.
In 2006, Padraig Giblin came back to his former schoolmate and asked if he had done anything more about the idea.
“I made a scale model and brought it to Padraig who arranged a meeting with Croke Park. We are still in talks and there seems to be a move now as the problem seems to have become more common,” Michael explained.
The Tulla resident acknowledged that one of the issues is the cost. “We don’t know what the costs are at this stage and from a club’s point of view, lotto grants are no longer available. Our system is in place in Scariff. We had a test model in place there three years ago and it was up for over a year. Laois played Clare in a national league fixture there and we had to take it down on the instructions of Croke Park, who pointed out that such a model could not be in place for the league game as it would not be in place for every game in the competition.
“The net goes all the way up to the top of the upright and it goes back five feet and returns across three feet. Umpires who have officiated with this system in place say that their job is made easier. It would have cleared up last week’s situation in the Munster final,” Michael explained, referring to the debate where Ben O’Connor’s free was signalled as a point when most believed it to be wide.
Seán Tobin of Goalpost Ireland in Waterford is developing the project for Michael and Padraig and they are presently putting a presentation together for Croke Park on September 1.
“Croke Park have a hands-on involvement with the project. They’re fully aware and have encouraged the trials,” Seán Tobin told The Clare Champion this week.
“We have made a number of prototypes at Goalposts Ireland in Tallow. We tested various models first. Goalposts, on average, only go up 11m but this new model goes up 16m. The goal in Croke Park goes 13m and is the only one in the country,” said Tobin.
“We also did a comprehensive study on an electronic solution but you would have to spend thousands upon thousands to get a solution which is not practical for amateur sport. The system we are talking about will increase the area of detection and is an additional aid to the umpire and referee in identifying points and reducing the margin of error dramatically. We are still testing for strength and stability and the results to date are extremely encouraging,” he concluded.