The GAA Congress was held over the weekend, and former Meath footballer and current treasurer of the Club Players Association Anthony Moyles has criticised some of the GAA's top brass, saying they're worried about the wrong problems in the game.
Speaking to Ger and Eoin in studio on Tuesday's OTB AM, Moyles said that the Congress is too old, and needs fresh blood to liven things up and make changes to the game.
"Let's have a look at the actual people who are involved, like a lot of grey hair, right. The average age I'd say is probably 65 plus, maybe. Very few women at it, and there were a couple of younger guys there of our age wearing their club top or something like that, but a handful, maybe 20 to 25".
"Then of course, like everything, probably the more vocal people are the people who have been steeped in it for the last 35 or 40 years".
The 40-year-old says that the changes the GAA needs to make are not being addressed because the higher ups are too out of touch with the grassroots and underage set up.
"I was thinking about the demographic of Congress, and the younger people, the guys I'm training at 17, 18, 19 and their dropout rates, and these people aren't seeing that. They're not seeing the alarming statistics that are there. I don't want to make a direct comparison here, but it's kind of like the Catholic Church to a certain degree".
"The mass goers are dropping off alarmingly, priests going into the priesthood are dropping off alarmingly, and then only when it comes to crisis point do they say, 'oh, we're actually on our knees here, and we need to do something about it' ".
Moyles believes that while revenues and incomes may be as high as ever, the underlying problems remain and will become apparent if they're not seen to before it's too late.
"Everything looks great I think from a GAA standpoint. Revenues are good, earnings are good. So up here is excellent on top of the water, but below the water I think there are some serious issues, and even deeper issues than say what some people want to talk about, which is fixtures, the inter-county scene, and elitism".
"There are some serious issues at underage level, and as you go into adult level, that if they don't fix you'll very much find that clubs will have to start coming together, that there will be lower participation rates, and all that stuff will start to kick in".
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