A counselor who specializes in supporting GAA referees outlines the immense pressure they face, highlighting the potential impact on the sport's future. The documentary 'Réiteoir!' explores the mental health challenges faced by referees, including the scrutiny they endure from media and social media, and the emotional toll of making high-stakes decisions.
A counselor and psychotherapist, asked eight years ago to talk to referees about mental health issues, has described the pressures facing match officials as one of the biggest threats to the Gaelic Athletic Association ( GAA ). 'One of the biggest threats to the GAA would be refereeing in the next five to 10 years if we don’t change the system,' he said.
Trying to keep up: icy reality of life at the top hits Wexford Five things we learned from the weekend: GAA can’t afford to stick their head in sand on disciplinary issues Speaking in RTÉ documentary Réiteoir!, presented by Gráinne McElwain, which is to air this Thursday, he recalled asking referees how they dealt with making a big mistake in a game and the aftermath of it being highlighted on The Sunday Game, and when social media gets a hold of it and they have to go back into work on Monday. 'There was silence and then one of them stood up and said, ‘this is the elephant in the room’. This is what they were dealing with and nobody in particular is talking about it.' As a result, Croke Park asked him to provide a service. There are about 80 referees in total between hurling and football. They may pick up the phone the following day or contact you three months later and they could be suffering for those three months. The anxiety is huge and sometimes, depression, and some referees – maybe it’s human nature – have a tendency to bottle it up and hold on to it themselves but it’s important that the service is there to be able to support them and help them. 'For 70 minutes how many decisions does a referee have to make? What’s a free and not a free, letting a game run, yellow cards and red cards and timing, ticks and scores. We calculated around 500 decisions a game. If you get the majority of those right, you’re probably on the right track, but you’re not going to get them all right. That’s how much pressure a referee is under and me sitting on the sideline, screaming abuse probably isn’t going to help the referee.' The programme also features Meath All-Ireland football official David Gough, who appears with fellow referees Siobhán Coyle and Eoghan Ó Muircheartaigh, talking about two mistakes in big matches in recent years. The first was a failure to give Kerry a free in the 2016 All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin and the other penalising Mayo’s Conor Loftus at the end of last season’s Connacht final – a decision that enabled Galway to win a third successive title. 'I gave Galway the free and it was wrong,' says Gough. 'Mayo deserved it. That was difficult for me and it still bothers me. I am still talking to the psychologist about the negative mindset I have because of that foul and I’m still worried that it will happen again. That’s the second time ever it happened – 2016 and 2024 – and that bothers me a lot.between Dublin and Kerry when I made a mistake, not to read the comments. It was very difficult after that.' An openly gay man, Gough also speaks about the stress of homophobic abuse in letters sent to his family home
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