At times the lack of respect shown to our volunteers and venue officials is disappointing. Too often players and supporters feel they have the right to criticise and condemn without retribution, but it is this behaviour that is driving volunteers away from the game. GAA Handball want to reiterate that it is not acceptable to direct verbal abuse at a volunteer no matter what the circumstances are.
GAA Handball have now launched a series of respect posters in an effort to stamp out indiscipline and to enforce our sport wide expectations;
Respect Yourself, Respect Others, Respect Referees, Respect Our Sport
We ask that all clubs display these posters prominently in your facilities, and help enforce these values in your club to make our venue officials and referees feel more comfortable.
One of the most frustrating and disrespectful parts of our game is players not turning up for games and not informing their opponent &/or the venue official. What players fail to realise is that pulling out of a fixture and failing to inform the relevant parties in time affects a number of people and it is not acceptable in an era where there are now so many different methods of communication available.
One of our objectives for the coming year is to educate and train a panel of referees, especially for Open games to help maintain a level of consistency and also to ensure that our top games are officiated by our top officials.
On the new European One-Wall Tour, one of the most striking aspects of the tournaments is the respect shown to officials. Here you have all grades of players from Junior to Masters refereeing games on a loser referees basis with no hesitation. This is because the players themselves are committed to respecting the referee, with incidents/complaints pretty much non existent on the tour.
In America in One-Wall, a three strikes you're out method is used, where recently a top Open player was banned for one year for using up their three strikes. Again this punishment was accepted as it is widely accepted that abuse of referees is not acceptable. We as a sport can learn a lot from these tournaments and their enforcement of respect.
As a sport we have the responsibility to all players, especially our kids, to create a safe environment where they can enjoy and participate in our games without fear of failure and pressure to perform. No one wants to see young kids visibly upset coming off a court after a defeat. GAA Handball have already taken steps to ensure our younger grades in particular will have fun, enjoyment & participation as their priority.
It is worrying in some cases to see the pressure that these very young kids are put under to achieve victory. In response, we have released a "Let the Kids Play" poster which we hope can be adhered to. Kids have plenty of time in the future when they are mentally ready and more mature to deal with the competitive aspect and the elation of winning versus the desolation of losing. At this tender age they should be making friends, memories, enjoying the games and engaging in physical activity. In other words, Let the Kids Play!
Both new posters will be distributed to clubs in the coming weeks.
