"I'd go training only I never know when it's on, sure WhatsApp is banned now" fitness fanatic Mark Young confirms

Post date: Jan 29, 2020 4:20:14 PM

By Niveked....

Edenderry junior goalkeeper and former underage footballing prodigy Mark Young has hit out at the latest proposal from GAA chiefs to ban team WhatsApp groups citing he hasn't been able to attend training for the past four years due to the announcement made yesterday......

Young (28), said the decision to ban WhatsApp groups has effectively cost him a place in midfield on the senior team as he missed 98% of training sessions since the reds last won the championship in 2015.

"It's very difficult to keep going without WhatsApp sure I never know when the lads are training, it's mule. There's no better buzz than getting that early season message in January from the manager to say the hard training starts Friday night etc and seeing all the selfies flying into the group from the boys in college who are pumping weights in the gym before hitting the nightclub. I feel we're being deprived of that tingling feeling going forward" the Defence Forces employee stated to the Edenderry Topic earlier today.

Young's comments are echoed by junior teammate and lifelong best friend Daniel Ryan who has also missed an equally impressive amount of training over the past number of years.

"I used to love being in WhatsApp groups, even the years I didn't play football. Like you'd never leave the group even if you weren't playing because it's always handy to just read the messages and know what's going on so you can tell the boys down in Damo's on a Saturday night. I used to hate when the admin would turf me out" Ryan said.

IT Carlow, Offaly and Edenderry senior footballer Cian Farrell is expected to be the hardest hit as he is in at least 25 different GAA WhatsApp groups including 'Offaly', 'Edenderry', 'College ball', 'Football Friends', 'The Manager Is Clueless' and 'Make Me Captain 2020'. Cian's Offaly teammate Mark Abbott is said to be gutted at the latest proposal as he will have nowhere to post pictures to show his teammates how he ran 5km around the back road in 14 minutes before training.

The decision to ban WhatsApp groups for GAA teams is said to not have effected the older players in the Edenderry squad as many of them deem themselves too cool to reply to messages even when the manager specifically asks for everyone to answer him.

Club PRO Angela Swords confirmed to our staff reporter that the club are currently searching for alternative means of communication with 'smoke signals' seen as the preferred choice.