Kildare ladies air their grievances in letters to County Board

In a letter to the Kildare LGFA County Board this past week, the Kildare senior team and management raised a number of issues in reference to the October 25 County Board meeting. 

The letter is the third in an ongoing dialogue between the panel and the County Board regarding various issues ahead of the 2024 season. 

The series of letters include an open letter from the panel, a response from the County Board which was read out at a prior meeting and then handed out, and finally a second letter from the Kildare panel and management.

The Kildare senior panel were approached for comment regarding the letters and issues raised within them and said: 

“Our goal is to have full transparency between all stakeholders involved in Kildare LGFA in order for all parties to move forward to a collaborative and positive place regarding a number of issues which we have raised affecting Kildare LGFA. With this in mind we have raised these issues with the County Board over the last number of weeks in order to try to move Kildare LGFA forward.”

Budget 2024

The first issue highlighted in the letter from the Kildare panel and management is “Budget 2024.” 

The senior panel, after consultation with the management team, confirmed that the budget for 2024 is yet to be agreed upon.  The Kildare senior panel's season is scheduled to begin on January 21, as the newly promoted Lilywhites begin their Lidl National League Division 2 campaign. The letter refers to the lack of a budgetary agreement for the forthcoming season as “disappointing.”

The section  also highlights the lack of access to physiotherapy away from training nights, as well as acknowledging that there is a mandatory fundraising requirement. The letter then requests confirmation regarding  the exact nature of  the  fundraising requirement  for the Senior panel. 

The panel and management's letter then states: “On a number of occasions the new squad charter for 2024 was mentioned, can we request to see any official correspondence from the GPA or the LGFA in relation to this?”

The further raising of these issues follows the Kildare County Board’s initial response regarding concerns at the lack of a confirmed budget for the 2024 season.

The response states: “To provide ultimate transparency in respect of finances, I agreed a budget of €110,000 with the county team manager last year, which took into account that we expected that the team would get to an All-Ireland final. As you will see from our accounts in a few weeks time  at the end of the season, the total spend came to approx. €120,000, which excludes the Banquet held after the All-Ireland.”

The Kildare County Board’s response letter is written in the first person at various points but is not signed by any individual or the Board themselves. 

It continued, “As noted above, discussions for the budget have started with the manager and we have been requested a budget of €180,000. As we do not have a sustainable income increase for 2024 or future years at present, we do not feel this is a sustainable budget and we have proposed a budget of €150,000, which we feel is a very significant increase and have said that the remainder will have to be completed over time.”

The Kildare panel and management responded to two points within the above statement in letter three stating, “It was inferred that a budget of €150,000 was proposed by the executive to the management team. Yet, as noted above, we are told that there is no budget agreed. The management team are currently seeking clarity on the items in dispute and any conditions on the proposed €150,000 budget.

“It was mentioned that the total spend for the 2023 season on the Senior team was €120,000, but that excluded the banquet held on the evening of the All Ireland Final. Why were the costs for the banquet not included? Can you confirm the overall costs for the banquet?”

In addition to this, the County Board response letter noted that “the matter of the budget for 2024 is a matter that we have discussed with the management, the budget is a matter to be agreed between management and the county executive. The discussion is very much open at the moment, but the last correspondence on the matter is actually sitting with the management.”

Pitch Development Fund

The second key issue raised in the Kildare panel and management’s letter was in relation to the “Pitch Development Fund.” The issues  concerned the overall strategic plan for the money that had been set aside, as well as  the yearly implications, in particular for 2024.

The Kildare County Board’s initial response to the raising of this issue stated, “With respect to the pitch development, this was something that was discussed a number of years ago by the county board, which is made up of all clubs in Kildare and not just the county executive, and that objective to get our own grounds was decided by the county board back then. The rationale behind that was due to the lack of facilities across the board for all teams and clubs, as well as due to the growing population in Kildare LGFA and GAA. 

“We have had discussions with Kildare GAA in respect of facilities and the amalgamation, and there have been discussions about Kildare LGFA purchasing land to assist with the pressure on Hawkfield, so regardless of any amalgamation there will be a requirement to purchase new land to allow for there to be facilities to meet the numbers required between Kildare GAA, Kildare LGFA and Kildare Camogie. At present there is only one county team training in Hawkfield, and having their matches in Hawkfield. Our three other county teams are forced to move around the county to get facilities and to play their matches and this can be a source of great stress for the management involved in those teams, especially in the winter months when the weather is bad and pitches are closed. And lets not forget about our development squads who do not ever get a look in for use of Hawkfield.”

The Kildare panel and management responded in their letter to the above with a series of detailed questions regarding fundraising, quantity of land and costs concerning the Pitch Development Fund.

The panel and management’s letter also queried the outcome of the previously mentioned discussions  with  Kildare GAA  about facilities and  amalgamation. 

The third issue raised in the senior panel and management’s letter concerned the “Kildare LGFA Player Development plan.” and contained five questions regarding the subject. 

The questions inquire about how recently   the current development plan has  been updated and added concerns about the future distribution of it.

These questions followed the County Board’s previous acknowledgement of the issue in their response letter which states that they are in agreement that something needs to be looked at regarding a pathway for future players.

The County Board cited a lack of funding as the primary rationale as to why this issue would not be looked at this year, also mentioning the need for additional volunteers separate to the senior management.

An area of consistent discussion throughout all three letters concerns the area of sponsorship and finances. The Kildare panel’s first letter again mentions a “lack of transparency” regarding agreed sponsorship deals.

The County Board responded by saying:

 “There is no lack of transparency with the team in respect of sponsors and partners. As is the normal case with commercial agreements, a  non-disclosure agreement has been put in place with our main sponsors, at their request. This is the case across many sponsorship agreements across many codes and is not exclusive to Kildare LGFA. This has been stated and discussed with the senior team on many occasions including five times in the past year.”

The response letter went on to recount the five occasions that the contribution of the main sponsor, Brady Family Ham, was questioned. 

In each incident the answer to the question regarding the sponsor's contribution was that Brady’s do not sponsor the senior ladies team, they instead sponsor Kildare LGFA as a whole and the amount of the sponsorship could therefore not be disclosed.

The most recent of the three letters reiterates the team and management's desire for an increased level of transparency regarding the sponsorship and what is included within it. As well as querying what sponsorship opportunities are available outside of the Brady's deal.

 The letter also questions whether  there is  any gear or jerseys included within the sponsorship and how exactly the undisclosed amount is divided.

The letter goes on to say, “The team feel there is also a lack of transparency regarding the Kildare LGFA financial state and request a detailed finance report.”

The Kildare panel and management letter ends with four statements regarding issues arising from the County Board’s response letter. It began with their reiteration that “the hard work or the time invested by all members of the executive in the LGFA was never questioned, nor was the commitment or time invested by club executives, members, parents, and county players in the LGFA ever questioned.”

The next three issues that were raised have been included above, alongside the topics they concerned. 

The third letter is signed “Kildare Senior Team and Management” and concludes by requesting  a full county board meeting to continue the discussions on these matters.  

When asked for comment, the Kildare LGFA County Board has said that they will address the correspondence at the next County Board meeting.