The launch of the first GAA’s All-Stars and the Gaelic Player Awards

New awards presented at a Gala Night in Dublin’s Convention Centre and broadcast on RTE

As the dust settles on a gripping season of Gaelic games it’s time for reflection as the countdown begins to the annual All-Star player awards which will be announced on Friday October 21.

However, this year marks a significant departure for the All-Stars as they have merged with the players’ own awards scheme to form the new GAA-GPA All-Stars.

As the first high profile joint venture between the players’ body and the GAA, the new awards are a symbol of the strengthening partnership between both organisations.

Up until now, the existence of two award schemes – the GAA’s All-Stars and the Gaelic Player Awards, run by the Gaelic Players Association – was somewhat divisive as both schemes essentially competed in the same commercial and media space.

The GPA player awards, initiated in 2000, became an important element in the development of the players’ body as it began to assert itself on the national stage. In a short time they began to rival the long-established All-Stars.

Following the formal recognition of the GPA last year and with narrowing commercial opportunities the GPA and GAA felt it was prudent to pool the collective strengths of both ventures and run a joint awards scheme under the sponsorship of Opel, long time supporters of GPA.

It wasn’t an easy decision for either body as both coveted the traditions associated with both award schemes but ultimately it was decided that the merger was an essential step and would ultimately provide for a better scheme in the long run, drawing as it does on the strengths of both set-ups.

The new awards will be presented at a Gala Night in Dublin’s impressive Convention Centre and will be broadcast live on RTE television.

While players will always attest to an All-Star being very much a distant second to winning the coveted Celtic Cross in an All-Ireland final, the prestige of the award is nonetheless significant, marking as it does the individual’s contribution to the collective effort.

And the individual recognition can also be important to the player whose county is unlikely to reach the Promised Land. In 2004 for example, Wexford footballer Mattie Forde was named GPA Footballer of the Year for his efforts when he scored 3-38 during his county’s campaign that summer.

The format for this year’s awards takes elements of both schemes. Fifteen hurlers and footballers will be chosen by a panel of Gaelic games writers while the individual Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards will be selected by the players.

________________

Read More:

Donal Og Cusack - GAA star out and proud

Gaelic Players Association launch support network for GAA players

Irish sporting legends take to New York stage to tell remarkable stories

​
Nster.com