News from Croke Park
31 March, 2012
Sanctions – Insurance now Required
GAA players who are travelling to the U.S.A. or Canada for the summer must receive a sanction to allow them play on a temporary basis with clubs in these areas. A decision of Ard Chomhairle recently made it compulsory for all players to obtain insurance cover from the GAA before a sanction to the U.S.A. or Canada can be granted.
This insurance cover costs €40 and sanctions will no longer be processed going forward unless this insurance has been purchased, and receipt of purchase is submitted with a sanction application.
Therefore, players who wish to receive a sanction to the U.S.A. or Canada (or a weekend authorisation in the case of New York) will need to purchase this sanction insurance at www.gaa.ie/sanctioninsurance where the €40 fee can be paid by Laser, Visa or Mastercard.
After completion the player will receive a receipt by email. If the sanction request is submitted by post, this receipt must be printed out and attached to the request; alternatively if the sanction is submitted by email this receipt must accompany the sanction form.
Where an individual is not in a position to register online, postal or money orders to the value of €40 can be attached to postal requests.
Requests for sanctions should be sent to sanctions@gaa.ie, by fax to 01-8658650 or by post to Stephen Browne, Croke Park, Dublin 3.
‘Off the Booze & On the Ball’ - Provincial club winners announced
Over 250 clubs registered for the Association’s inaugural ‘Off the Booze and On the Ball’ health challenge, with an estimated 3,000 participants taking up the ‘Pint Sized Challenge’ of abstaining from alcohol for the month of January.
The initiative was driven by the Association’s Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) Programme – a joint initiative with the HSE that aims to reduce the harm caused by the misuse of alcohol and other substances.
The four provincial winning clubs – Currin, Monaghan; Erin’s Isle, Dublin; Midleton, Cork; and Kinvara, Galway – were in Croke Park on Wednesday, March 21, to celebrate their successful participation in the event and to receive details of their prize – a training session with a high performance coach or sports nutritionist.
Midleton's win was driven all the way by Pearse McCarthy (Alcohol & Substance Abuse Officer).
All clubs that registered at www.gaa.ie/asap were in with a chance of winning. The Currin club’s 15 participants raised a total of €2,057.50 and used it to buy training gear including new footballs, training bids, water bottles and tackle bags. In the Kinvara Club, the U16 hurlers took the lead from their seniors who took up the ‘Pint Sized Challenge’ and decided to go ‘Off the Fizz and On the Ball’ by giving up fizzy drinks for the month. Their panel of 19 members alone raised €802.
Colin Regan, National Coordinator of the ASAP programme, said: “Our aim with ‘Off the Booze and On the Ball’ was to enhance the health promotion our clubs already engage in, week in week out. We hope it will become a part of the annual GAA calendar and that even more clubs will take up the challenge next year.”
