Corofin football dominance an example for other clubs

THERE are many who will say that Corofin’s continuing dominance of football in Galway is not good for the game in the county in general. I disagree entirely with that point of view. What those with a keen interest in Galway football should be asking is, why are Corofin so far ahead of the rest, and how is it they have been able to stay at the top for so long – 24 years up to the present time. In addition to that, since regaining senior status way back in 1964 they have retained that status and have never even dropped to the Division 2 section of the senior league in all that time.
So what is the explanation of their success (given that they probably don’t have a genetic engineering laboratory hidden away somewhere in the parish)?
Explanations offered frequently by various commentators include: Having a parish covering a large geographical area, and therefore a larger population of people than most other clubs, leaving them with a larger pool of players to pick from. Having superior management, ie having people in charge who are miles ahead of everyone else in team management know-how. Training a lot harder than other teams, leading to higher levels of fitness, and a combination of those factors, is also frequently cited as the reason for Corofin’s continuing success.
Let’s consider the how much truth might be contained in the explanations or opinions offered so far, starting with the size of the parish.
We have seen how clubs with only small populations have been able to win All-Ireland titles. Examples such as our own Caltra, and Lavey from Derry in football, to mention just two, and in hurling, Sarsfields (New Inn), Kiltormer, and Portumna, which is also very much a rural area, have been very successful without having big populations, and there are many other examples of top performing teams coming from small populations.