This is dedication on a whole other level. Wow.
The level of effort and dedication required of top-level inter-county players in the modern era has been well-documented; Gaelic Footballers and hurlers are professional in all but name and the sacrifices they make for the cause are worthy of the highest of admiration.
While the work they put in on the pitch, in the gym and on the training ground is common knowledge, it is only when you take a more detailed look at the numbers involved that it really brings it home.
Ray Boyne, who has experience with a number of sports teams as an analyst, including the Dublin footballers, regularly posts very interesting performance-based data and information, mostly about the GAA, on his Twitter page and today he produced this graph detailing GAA players’ ridiculous dedication to the cause.
Are you prepared to spend 50470 minutes with your team mates next year ? pic.twitter.com/B6lM3BdGjq
— Ray Boyne (@AnalysisGAA) November 6, 2014
Ray worked out that some players involved with club, college and county teams will dedicate 50,470 minutes to GAA activity over the course of a year, which works out at approximately 841 hours, 35 whole days, or a scarcely believable five weeks.
Obviously, that figure doesn’t apply to all players but you can guarantee that nearly everyone involved in a county set-up goes above and beyond in an effort to serve all of their respective masters over the course of the season.
And for that, they deserve a serious amount of kudos.
