Search icon

GAA

09th May 2017

Mickey Harte speaks utter sense when it comes to issue of warm weather training camps

It is an amateur sport after all

Darragh Culhane

Why would you need to go abroad when the sun has been shining in Ireland for the past week?

You may remember Marc Ó Sé spoke on The GAA Hour about going abroad for warm weather camps during his playing days with Kerry.

Ó Sé revealed the day to day routine of being abroad with your county as well as how Kerry stopped going out drinking on their final night abroad.

One team who will not be heading abroad are Tyrone, speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Mickey Harte revealed that he couldn’t expect his players to take time off work and leave their families for GAA.

 “I just try to think on behalf of the players and their families. I think it is a big ask to ask players to down tools, leave work, leave their families and go away to head off for that length of time.”

However, Harte did take the side down to Carton House in Kildare for the weekend for a training camp and was content with the training they would undergo.

“If we got a big decent weekend, from Friday to Sunday, I would be more than happy with that. I think we have lots of good facilities here and we don’t need to go any further than that.

“That’s just my opinion and the way I look at it, other people decide to go other places. Obviously, they get value out of that, but I have never asked that of our players over all the years I have been with them and I don’t intend to do that either.”

It is a fair point made by Harte, with most of the players needing to take annual leave if they were to attend week-long training camps by the Mediterranean.

Tyrone start their Ulster Senior Football Championship campaign against Derry on May 28.

LISTEN: The GAA Hour – Klopp in Croker, flop in Kildare and the ‘worst fans’ award?