Westmeath GAA chief vows to finish his tenure strongly

Westmeath GAA chairman Frank Mescall is determined to leave a legacy as he enters his final two years at the helm.

Mr Mescall took over from Billy Foley three years ago and one of his targets would surely have been a centre of excellence, but to date Westmeath is still languishing behind many other counties in that regard.

The Ballynacargy club man didn’t specifically refer to the lack of facilities at the annual convention last month, but hinted that he is focused on making a bigger impression over the next couple of years. Last year saw the county face other challenges and the cost of running the entire operation means major fundraisers are inevitable over the coming years.

Indiscipline reared its ugly head at games and the dwindling cohort of referees presented another challenge.

“I am now three years in the job as Westmeath GAA chairman, I am over half way; I am into the second half. So I have reflected on that over the last few weeks. So what have I, as chairman, done? Basically, not a lot,” he remarked.

“A few weeks before I let my name go forward to be the Westmeath GAA chairman, I had a page and a half of jobs that I would like to see done. Some of them big, some of them small, but some of them very, very important. But overall I am not getting on too well (with that list).

“When I was training teams I always believed in training them to finish the game strongly. So that will have to apply to me, I will have to finish my tenure strongly.”

Meanwhile, in what won’t be music to some ears, the chairman said all clubs in the county will once again have to pay for the cost of schools coaching.

“We will be looking at reinstating the coaching contribution for the clubs who are not in the coaching scheme. We have some clubs paying heavily for a coach, a GPO. We have other clubs who have been getting this service for nothing since Covid.

"We need to reinstate that contribution from the clubs who are not contributing. We will organise that in the new year,” he informed club delegates.