News round-up:The Ulster Council has explained its decision not to wear the sponsors' jerseys at last Sunday's Railway Cup football final.
This year's interprovincial championships were sponsored by Martin Donnelly and, as part of the deal, team kits with the sponsor's name were provided to teams both for the hurling, which concluded with a final in Rome 11 days ago, and the football, played in Enniskillen last weekend.
Ulster, who went on to win the football title, declined to wear the jerseys and instead fielded in gear supplied by the provincial council. Council secretary Danny Murphy pointed out that the decision was in keeping with a long-standing policy.
"We had taken a decision not to have a sponsor in the early 1990s when sponsorship of jerseys was first allowed," he said. "We were never consulted with regard to any of the jerseys which were supplied by the sponsor and had to stand by our previous position."
He didn't agree that such arrangements were a necessary element of agreeing sponsorships at national level.
"No. When you're talking about a team, be it provincial, county or club, the body involved with the team decides on jerseys. No one consulted with us in the acquisition of playing gear or in the sponsorship itself.
"The sponsorship of a competition shouldn't be confused with the right of a body to obtain a sponsor for its own jersey and by implication the right not to have a sponsor on the jersey."
Meanwhile, a coaching conference organised by the GAA for next weekend has sold out its 400 places. "Best practice for best performance - looking outside the box" will be moderated by Dr Niall Moyna, an exercise physiologist whose speciality is vascular and cardiological science.
According to Pat Daly, the GAA's director of games, the conference could have accommodated "a few extra", but the decision was taken to close subscriptions at 400. He said that the attendance would be a combination of GPOs (Games Promotion Officers) and club coaches.
"The conference will be addressed by practitioners who are the best in their field. Mickey Harte and Brian Cody will be among the speakers.
"It's a good mix of the worlds of physiology and psychology and those with both experience and the knowledge of how to apply that experience.
"There is a tendency in some coaching to make it up as you go along and send players off on a run when you run out of drills. This will be about preparation backed up by such things as performance analysis."
Daly is pleased by the presence of Tyrone's winning manager Mickey Harte, who took his county to their first All-Ireland title by breaking with the school of endurance training that has held sway in Gaelic games in recent years. His side won both the league and championship on the basis of two nights' training a week and playing competitive matches at weekends.
"It's grist to our mill," says Daly about Harte's programme. "We've been trying to get across the message that less is more, that if guys don't get adequate rest they won't be fresh."
The closing date to enter this year's AIB Club of the Year competition is this week. A total of 39 awards and a €100,000 prize fund are on offer.
The adjudicating focus will be exclusively on the progress the club has made over the past 12 months, in terms of administration, coaching and development and community relations, as well as progress on the field.
This is the fourth year of the awards scheme and the number of entries from clubs has more than trebled since 2000. Previous winners are Seán Dolan's (Derry) (2000), Eire Óg, Carlow (2001) and St Malachy's Castlewellan last year.
There is a development award of €2,000 for every county winner with the provincial winners receiving a further €5,000 and the overall winner a further €10,000.
