The untapped global potential of Gaelic games

[BennyHarp]

For want of a better place to put this. http://uk.businessinsider.com/irish-gaelic-football-nfl-2015-9?r=US&IR=T

[Gabriel_Hurl]

60 Minutes in the US are doing a bit on hurling - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhPpiAbnAZ8

[Any craic]

See 12 of the best scores in GAA games outside Ireland in 2015.. http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=248445

[30mog]

I am a Yorkshire born and bred individual with some Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire blood.  It is thought my long departed Nottingham born grandfather may have had maternal Irish blood.  But without proof I'll say I'm as English as they come.

Nowadays I can claim to be something of a sports tourist.  How does paying spectator of 23 sports at 326 venues in a dozen different countries sound?  Furthermore, I am disappointed if I miss out on a live GAA fix once a year.  I have a weekend in Cork booked for end of February.

In the case of Soccer, both codes of Rugby and NFL a similar sized playing surface is used, that helps in terms of venue availability.  In Australia they have the AFL that relies a lot on venues shared with Cricket.  And the climate of Australia is helpful to doing so.  Arguably, I can't see cricket grounds of the British Isles being available in their entirety for football in winter.  GAA also has an irregular large playing area.  However, the AFL are looking at worldwide development of the game by simply reducing the number of players to a level appropriate to the available venue.  Outside of locations with GAA owned venues the GAA could do the same.  Furthermore, even though GAA is amateur there is no reason it can't promote itself to wider audience through the media.  I think the main problem is not so much the GAA being amateur but the lack of a situation comparable to fans of FA Premiership being able to dream of their club buying Lionel Messi.  Dublin and Cork as team names could be promoted worldwide but not as long as there is a strictly regulated path regarding who may play for either.  Conclusively, only a little change of attitude could help promote playing GAA by non-Irish.  But changes of biblical proportion would be needed to make marketing gurus helpful. 

Once I read "hatred of Manchester United sells soccer more effectively than love of Manchester United".  Just about sums it up really.

[Zulu]

I am a Yorkshire born and bred individual with some Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire blood.  It is thought my long departed Nottingham born grandfather may have had maternal Irish blood.  But without proof I'll say I'm as English as they come.

Nowadays I can claim to be something of a sports tourist.  How does paying spectator of 23 sports at 326 venues in a dozen different countries sound?  Furthermore, I am disappointed if I miss out on a live GAA fix once a year.  I have a weekend in Cork booked for end of February.

In the case of Soccer, both codes of Rugby and NFL a similar sized playing surface is used, that helps in terms of venue availability.  In Australia they have the AFL that relies a lot on venues shared with Cricket.  And the climate of Australia is helpful to doing so.  Arguably, I can't see cricket grounds of the British Isles being available in their entirety for football in winter.  GAA also has an irregular large playing area.  However, the AFL are looking at worldwide development of the game by simply reducing the number of players to a level appropriate to the available venue.  Outside of locations with GAA owned venues the GAA could do the same. Furthermore, even though GAA is amateur there is no reason it can't promote itself to wider audience through the media.  I think the main problem is not so much the GAA being amateur but the lack of a situation comparable to fans of FA Premiership being able to dream of their club buying Lionel Messi.  Dublin and Cork as team names could be promoted worldwide but not as long as there is a strictly regulated path regarding who may play for either.  Conclusively, only a little change of attitude could help promote playing GAA by non-Irish.  But changes of biblical proportion would be needed to make marketing gurus helpful. 

Once I read "hatred of Manchester United sells soccer more effectively than love of Manchester United".  Just about sums it up really.

This is the key IMO. We really should be looking to develop an international version of football which would probably be 11 a side to work with existing facilities internationally. By internationally, I mean exclusively local teams not what we have currently. There are serious challenges to doing this though as  many Irish people driving the game worldwide would probably disagree with this. The idea that football or hurling should be played with less players and on a smaller surface wouldn't get huge support at the moment.

[Eamonnca1]

I am a Yorkshire born and bred individual with some Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire blood.  It is thought my long departed Nottingham born grandfather may have had maternal Irish blood.  But without proof I'll say I'm as English as they come.

Nowadays I can claim to be something of a sports tourist.  How does paying spectator of 23 sports at 326 venues in a dozen different countries sound?  Furthermore, I am disappointed if I miss out on a live GAA fix once a year.  I have a weekend in Cork booked for end of February.

In the case of Soccer, both codes of Rugby and NFL a similar sized playing surface is used, that helps in terms of venue availability.  In Australia they have the AFL that relies a lot on venues shared with Cricket.  And the climate of Australia is helpful to doing so.  Arguably, I can't see cricket grounds of the British Isles being available in their entirety for football in winter.  GAA also has an irregular large playing area.  However, the AFL are looking at worldwide development of the game by simply reducing the number of players to a level appropriate to the available venue.  Outside of locations with GAA owned venues the GAA could do the same. Furthermore, even though GAA is amateur there is no reason it can't promote itself to wider audience through the media.  I think the main problem is not so much the GAA being amateur but the lack of a situation comparable to fans of FA Premiership being able to dream of their club buying Lionel Messi.  Dublin and Cork as team names could be promoted worldwide but not as long as there is a strictly regulated path regarding who may play for either.  Conclusively, only a little change of attitude could help promote playing GAA by non-Irish.  But changes of biblical proportion would be needed to make marketing gurus helpful. 

Once I read "hatred of Manchester United sells soccer more effectively than love of Manchester United".  Just about sums it up really.

This is the key IMO. We really should be looking to develop an international version of football which would probably be 11 a side to work with existing facilities internationally. By internationally, I mean exclusively local teams not what we have currently. There are serious challenges to doing this though as  many Irish people driving the game worldwide would probably disagree with this. The idea that football or hurling should be played with less players and on a smaller surface wouldn't get huge support at the moment.

I'm not so sure about that. The number of players in itself isn't sacrosanct. In the USA they've been playing 13-a-side for years to take account of smaller fields. Smaller fields work fine for football and I wouldn't have a problem with 11-a-side. Putting hurling onto a smaller field is a problem though, thanks to the distance you can hit a sliothar. In fact if hurling and Gaelic football weren't governed by the same body, football would probably already be 11-a-side by now, we only use the same huge field because of hurling. The problem with hurling Super 11s is that the number of players alone isn't what's been adjusted, they've made a ton of other changes to the point where the game is closer to lacrosse than hurling. Frankly I think 30mog has hit on something there when he mentions cricket ovals. Aren't they big enough to accommodate a regulation GAA field? If they're not being used much in the winter and if there's plenty of time for the crease to recover...

[Eamonnca1]

I am a Yorkshire born and bred individual with some Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire blood.  It is thought my long departed Nottingham born grandfather may have had maternal Irish blood.  But without proof I'll say I'm as English as they come.

Nowadays I can claim to be something of a sports tourist.  How does paying spectator of 23 sports at 326 venues in a dozen different countries sound?  Furthermore, I am disappointed if I miss out on a live GAA fix once a year.  I have a weekend in Cork booked for end of February.

In the case of Soccer, both codes of Rugby and NFL a similar sized playing surface is used, that helps in terms of venue availability.  In Australia they have the AFL that relies a lot on venues shared with Cricket.  And the climate of Australia is helpful to doing so.  Arguably, I can't see cricket grounds of the British Isles being available in their entirety for football in winter.  GAA also has an irregular large playing area.  However, the AFL are looking at worldwide development of the game by simply reducing the number of players to a level appropriate to the available venue.  Outside of locations with GAA owned venues the GAA could do the same.  Furthermore, even though GAA is amateur there is no reason it can't promote itself to wider audience through the media.  I think the main problem is not so much the GAA being amateur but the lack of a situation comparable to fans of FA Premiership being able to dream of their club buying Lionel Messi.  Dublin and Cork as team names could be promoted worldwide but not as long as there is a strictly regulated path regarding who may play for either.  Conclusively, only a little change of attitude could help promote playing GAA by non-Irish.  But changes of biblical proportion would be needed to make marketing gurus helpful. 

Once I read "hatred of Manchester United sells soccer more effectively than love of Manchester United".  Just about sums it up really.

A lot of good points you make there. Where I disagree with you is I think that the geographical restrictions on who you can play for actually add value to the game. Territorial allegiance is a powerful force, and a player transfer market would undermine that since teams would no longer represent their territories. This is a far better system than being able to buy talent from outside, you have to produce your own talent, which is why the GAA is such a big generator of volunteer activity. I think a professional setup, properly implemented, could retain this geographical restriction and prevent a transfer market.

[Zulu]

I am a Yorkshire born and bred individual with some Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire blood.  It is thought my long departed Nottingham born grandfather may have had maternal Irish blood.  But without proof I'll say I'm as English as they come.

Nowadays I can claim to be something of a sports tourist.  How does paying spectator of 23 sports at 326 venues in a dozen different countries sound?  Furthermore, I am disappointed if I miss out on a live GAA fix once a year.  I have a weekend in Cork booked for end of February.

In the case of Soccer, both codes of Rugby and NFL a similar sized playing surface is used, that helps in terms of venue availability.  In Australia they have the AFL that relies a lot on venues shared with Cricket.  And the climate of Australia is helpful to doing so.  Arguably, I can't see cricket grounds of the British Isles being available in their entirety for football in winter.  GAA also has an irregular large playing area.  However, the AFL are looking at worldwide development of the game by simply reducing the number of players to a level appropriate to the available venue.  Outside of locations with GAA owned venues the GAA could do the same. Furthermore, even though GAA is amateur there is no reason it can't promote itself to wider audience through the media.  I think the main problem is not so much the GAA being amateur but the lack of a situation comparable to fans of FA Premiership being able to dream of their club buying Lionel Messi.  Dublin and Cork as team names could be promoted worldwide but not as long as there is a strictly regulated path regarding who may play for either.  Conclusively, only a little change of attitude could help promote playing GAA by non-Irish.  But changes of biblical proportion would be needed to make marketing gurus helpful. 

Once I read "hatred of Manchester United sells soccer more effectively than love of Manchester United".  Just about sums it up really.

This is the key IMO. We really should be looking to develop an international version of football which would probably be 11 a side to work with existing facilities internationally. By internationally, I mean exclusively local teams not what we have currently. There are serious challenges to doing this though as  many Irish people driving the game worldwide would probably disagree with this. The idea that football or hurling should be played with less players and on a smaller surface wouldn't get huge support at the moment.

I'm not so sure about that. The number of players in itself isn't sacrosanct. In the USA they've been playing 13-a-side for years to take account of smaller fields. Smaller fields work fine for football and I wouldn't have a problem with 11-a-side. Putting hurling onto a smaller field is a problem though, thanks to the distance you can hit a sliothar. In fact if hurling and Gaelic football weren't governed by the same body, football would probably already be 11-a-side by now, we only use the same huge field because of hurling. The problem with hurling Super 11s is that the number of players alone isn't what's been adjusted, they've made a ton of other changes to the point where the game is closer to lacrosse than hurling. Frankly I think 30mog has hit on something there when he mentions cricket ovals. Aren't they big enough to accommodate a regulation GAA field? If they're not being used much in the winter and if there's plenty of time for the crease to recover...

We are highly unlikely to get access to cricket grounds on a local level though and a lot of Irish people living abroad view GAA as a 15 a side game and want to get pitches to allow that happen rather than play 11 or 13 a side on existing soccer or rugby pitches. One of the major problems in developing the game abroad is establishing a vision of what it should look like, is it simply an extension of the game at home and largely for Irish emigrants or is it about developing the game internationally. It's probably a bit of both but it's weighted more towards the latter when it should, IMO, be weighted more towards the former.

[Eamonnca1]

We are highly unlikely to get access to cricket grounds on a local level though and a lot of Irish people living abroad view GAA as a 15 a side game and want to get pitches to allow that happen rather than play 11 or 13 a side on existing soccer or rugby pitches. One of the major problems in developing the game abroad is establishing a vision of what it should look like, is it simply an extension of the game at home and largely for Irish emigrants or is it about developing the game internationally. It's probably a bit of both but it's weighted more towards the latter when it should, IMO, be weighted more towards the former.

Why?

[Zulu]

Sorry, I meant the other way around, we should be more focused on getting Germans, British, Chinese, American etc. playing the games abroad rather than simply providing the emigrant Irish with games. We need to do both of course but growth and (genuine) sustainability can only be achieved through getting the locals to play.

[Eamonnca1]

Great story here about Berlin GAA introducing Syrian refugees to hurling and helping them to mingle.

http://www.punditarena.com/gaa/bbarry/syrian-refugees-in-berlin-are-being-introduced-to-hurling/

I always thought the GAA could play a great role in helping migrants to integrate in Ireland, but this is the first time I've seen it done outside of Ireland.

[armaghniac]

Great story here about Berlin GAA introducing Syrian refugees to hurling and helping them to mingle.

http://www.punditarena.com/gaa/bbarry/syrian-refugees-in-berlin-are-being-introduced-to-hurling/

I always thought the GAA could play a great role in helping migrants to integrate in Ireland, but this is the first time I've seen it done outside of Ireland.

The GAA outside Ireland is mostly played by badly integrated immigrants.

[bloody mary]

Here's a report from the Middle East at the weekend, showing Sharjah Gaels, Abu Dhabi na Fianna and the Arabian Celts all going well at the Bahrain Festival..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB_VreZvEV8&t=6s

[bloody mary]

The GAA continues to thrive in the Middle East. 'We're now 15 clubs spread over six countries and we have 106 teams'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFioQ-3ZrLg&t=19s

[Eamonnca1]

Is anyone here based in Argentina or anywhere else in South America? I ask because my Spanish language translation of my Gaelic football informational video has just blown up on Youtube with 25,000 views in the last two days. The majority of traffic is coming from Argentina, followed by Spain, followed by relatively trivial amounts coming from other Spanish speaking countries.

When I see a spike in views I usually look at the traffic source and find that someone has posted a link somewhere like Reddit. That hasn't happened this time, most of the traffic is coming from people going to Youtube and typing in "futbol gaelico" as a search term. Something must have happened down there, the game must have gotten some coverage on TV or something.