DISAPPOINTED but not surprised – that was Andrew Fitzgerald’s reaction to the news that Beara footballers wouldn’t be competing in this year’s county senior championship.
The Killarney man was appointed Beara football manager last season and was back at the helm this year, hoping to build on the progress of 2022 when the division played three games in their section.
But a myriad of reasons – including injuries, players away and a busy club calendar – saw Beara unable to field a team, and the division withdrew their flagship team from the competition.
‘To be honest, it wasn’t a shock because currently all the teams in Beara are struggling with numbers for one reason or another,’ Fitzgerald told The Southern Star
‘All the teams are also struggling with injuries. It was hard for them to do any preparation at all coming into the championship.’
When Beara couldn’t field for a challenge game in May, the writing was on the wall. It’s a setback for a division that has enjoyed some underage success in recent times, and Fitzgerald wants to see Beara build on those wins and give young players the chance to play senior football.
‘With the success of the U17s and U19s in the last couple of years, every effort should be made to have Beara competing at the highest level because every player and every manager knows that the best way for a player to improve is to play at the highest level,’ Fitzgerald explained.
‘Hopefully next year things will get up and running again and that the storm will settle. I think if they don’t get a team next year, it’s going to be unfair on those young players who need this to reach their full potential.’
Beara played three games in last year’s championship – against Avondhu, Muskerry and Carbery – and the derby in Bantry against neighbours Carbery, who went on to win the Tadhg Crowley Cup, was memorable.
‘Any player would give his right arm to play in a game of that pace and at that level,’ Fitzgerald said, ‘That is the aspiration of any young player. The clubs, the managers and the committees in Beara need to come together and make sure that happens for the players.’
The six clubs in the division supply players, but with Urhan, Glengarriff and Garnish now involved in round-robin county championships this year, as well as Castletownbere and Adrigole, the squeezed calendar leaves little room for the divisional team to prepare properly.
‘It is pointless going into a game with little numbers, you’re only fulfilling a fixture,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘When you see what the likes of Carbery put in last year, it takes an awful lot of effort and time and communication between clubs.’
According to Fitzgerald, the division had 33 players togging out last year, and there were good numbers also at training sessions.
‘I think those players, especially the older players, realise that the time is now. For the chance to play at senior level to be taken away from them is devastating for some,’ he added.
