Mayo GAA CEO getting plenty of feedback from clubs and volunteers

Last April, Tourmakeady native Ruairí Conroy was appointed the first ever CEO of Mayo GAA.

A number of weeks into his new position now, Mr. Conroy has been getting plenty of feedback from various clubs and volunteers throughout the county.

The CEO has worked with a range of global multinationals over the last 20 years and brings a wealth of experience to the new role.

When asked about his vison for Mayo GAA over the coming years, he said: “I will be putting milestones in place to see whether we are on track or not, and that will be a transparent visualisation and update provided to the county board. As we develop the vision it will become quite clear. Certainly, areas I will be looking at are attracting and retaining the number of volunteers, and we need to do that to support clubs at different grades. Participation on the volunteer side will be important.”

Mr. Conroy added: “I will be working to ensure that at both county and club level that the measures we are taking are keeping kids involved in sports and that they are not dropping out as they progress through the various age grades.

“Commercially, there are very clear goals and that has to be very transparent, with alternative and new strategies. Also, where and what are we going to fund, and why.

“We already know the importance of the centre of excellence in Bohola for our county and what we need to fund that project and ensure that are we on track. We will have very clear goals on the project in Bohola, from operational and the running of the project, to execution of the phases, to the point of completion, and that is only one strand.”

Ruairí also hopes to strengthen ties with the Mayo diaspora. “I think one of the areas we can strengthen those ties is by communication,” he explained. “If I am in The Bronx, Chicago or a different part of the world, then that doesn’t mean that I care any less about Mayo GAA, and perhaps it might mean that I care even more.

“Mayo people living abroad listen almost religiously to Midwest Radio and that gives them a great sense of almost being at home. We need to look at various communication channels and see how we can make our club and county teams more accessible and make people feel that they know what is happening and that they know the players and the teams.

“It is important that people feel part of the journey rather than feeling lonely on the other side of the world and wanting to be involved but just can’t. Certainly, adopting much more modern engagement and communication channels with our supporters and businesses around the world will be a big part of that.”

KEY ROLE

Funding plays a key role in any voluntary organisation and Ruairí hopes to strengthen Mayo GAA’s sponsorship capabilities.

“I think there is a very strong opportunity to partner with organisations large and small, to understand what they value and their DNA, because a lot of that will be reflected in the great work the GAA does,” he said.

“I think another element is our huge support in the county, and also across the country, but particularly around the world. I genuinely think our supporters abroad are maybe even bigger into football than we are, just because they don't feel as close to it. It’s hugely important that we open up ways of making them feel closer to the team, to the county, to what we're doing, and why we're doing it.

“There's lots of ways we can learn from other counties and organisations, whether it's your club locally or your professional sports like rugby to see how we can make people feel close to the team even if they're the other side of the world.

“Certainly, moving into that content and that engagement space at scale will be something we'll be exploring.”

*See next Tuesday's print edition for more from Mr. Conroy