BY DECLAN BOGUE
d.bogue@gaeliclife.com
A CURSORY examination of insurance claims in the GAA down through the years made some revealing reading this week, in the light of Motion 30 which appears before Saturday's Congress in Sligo, proposing that hurling helmets should become compulsory.
In 1997, when there was a much more relaxed attitude to the wearing of protective headgear in underage hurling, there were 84 claims, and all of them for head injuries. Break the figures down, and you see three eye injuries, 21 facial injuries, one jaw injury, five on the nose, seven scalp injuries and 47 claims made for dental repair. This was for underage alone, and subsequent evidence since a motion was passed a couple of years back to make the helmet a necessity at underage, shows a dramatic decrease of these type of claims.
Not alone does this represent a significant money-saver for the GAA, but the protection of underage hurlers has become paramount. On the basis of this, and the fact that old school bare-headed warriors such as Dan Shanahan are dwindling, it should be a formality in Sligo that this will get the go-ahead. It comes under Motion 30, brought by Kilkenny, and reads, 'That Rule 4.2 (equipment) of the Playing Rules for Hurling and Football is amended to read as follows: (a) In all hurling games and hurling practice sessions it is mandatory for all players to wear a helmet with a facial guard; (b) Helmets shall be approved for use on the basis of compliance of standards and tests set out in IS 355 as determined by the National Standards Authority of Ireland; (c) A referee shall not allow a helmet to be worn in a football game. This Rule shall come into operation on January 1st 2010.'
As reported in the Congress handbook, the advantages of wearing a helmet appear in stark contrast between youth and adult hurling. 10 eye injuries the past year in adult, while there were none in underage, 21 facial injuries in adult to one youth, seven head injuries in adults to five in youth, one damaged jaw and five damaged noses, to none in both sections of youth hurling, and the staggering 97 reported dental injuries in adult hurling to twelve youth. On the basis of this alone, a long-overdue rule change is expected to fly through.
