Finding a place in the sun

GAELIC GAMES: Ah, the incessant woes and worries of the inter-county GAA manager. They never stop, even in January. Decisions, decisions. Factor 10 or Factor 15? Shades or floppy hat? Aisle or window? Understanding the Taliban or Raising the Banner by Ger Loughnane.

This is the month that annually sees the GAA equivalent of the Flight of the Earls, with the cream of the country's talent dispersing for two weeks of bliss prior to the resumption of hard training. It is both a thank you for the previous season's endeavours and a subtle bonding exercise designed to make the pain of the days ahead more bearable.

January is the prime month for global GAA-spotters. Only now might you find Páidí Ó Sé strolling Fifth Avenue in search of a nice pair of championship chinos. Or Nicky English doing his best Spandau Ballet at a South African karaoke night.

This is, without doubt, the best time of year to catch Joe Rabbitte on a surf board. (Where, he will, hopefully, get a few more breaks than he was given in the All-Ireland). If ever you wanted to see the Meath half-back line taking it easy, then South Africa is the place to be.

And yeah, the old line rings true: when the Meath defenders go on safari, the lions roll up their windows.

"The holiday" is the traditional reward for teams that do well in the All-Ireland championship. As a venture, it is still best associated with the great Kerry teams of the 1970s who used to organise lavish and extensive world trips that appeared to last for almost as long as the championship itself. In recent years, with professional training regimes and a congested GAA calendar, it has been used as a small compensation for the untold time players and managers put into the game.

With the principles of amateurism still largely in tact, the holiday is one of the few tangible ways GAA athletes can be rewarded.

Although partly funded by the county board, the holidays are also financed through the main GAA championship sponsorship deals.

Sligo, for instance, after a captivating season that brought them to Croke Park for the first summer since 1975, have already spent a week together in Spain, as have Crossmolina, the club champions.

Munster football champions Kerry, conscious of the impending league, have elected to spend just a week in New York, but All-Ireland champions Galway are busy taking notes from their hurling counterparts on Thai cuisine; in the interests of parity, it was decided to take both squads to one destination. The hurlers have just returned, the footballers leave this weekend.

Wexford have opted for the same policy, with the football team heading for Gran Canaria while Larry O'Gorman and company will let fly in Lanzarote.

Kilkenny, the Leinster hurling champions, have, however, decided to lie low this year. Crouching cats. Yikes!

WISH YOU WERE HERE?

FOOTBALL TEAMS

Meath - South Africa.

Galway - Thailand.

Kerry - New York.

Sligo - Spain.

Mayo - Las Palmas.

Wexford - Gran Canaria.

Westmeath - Tenerife

HURLING TEAMS

Galway - Thailand.

Tipperary - South Africa.

Kerry - Gran Canaria

Wexford - Lanzarote