Mickey Harte wants Gaelic Football in the Olympics

[Hound]

"I call upon the GAA to make a proposal to the International Olympic Committee that Gaelic Football become an exhibition sport at the Olympic Games. People will then see the quality of the product that we have and we can then further appreciate the potential of our own games."

Good man Mickey.

Ireland v United Kingdom in the final me reckons 

[Out in Front]

Would the boys from the six counties would have the option of declaring for either Ireland or Great Britain & Northern Ireland (as it's called)?

What a team GB & NI could have...and the real prospect of 15 (or 30 if you include the whole panel) 'British' olympic gold medals too!

[Hound]

Would the boys from the six counties would have the option of declaring for either Ireland or Great Britain & Northern Ireland (as it's called)?

What a team GB & NI could have...and the real prospect of 15 (or 30 if you include the whole panel) 'British' olympic gold medals too!

Not a hope in hell of it ever happening, but suspending reality for a moment to answer your question - Yes, the boys in the six counties would have a choice. I'm sure GB would end up with a decent team from 6 county lads who didnt make the Ireland squad and who wanted to experience the Olympics. They'd probably get the odd lad from the south too, who have British parents/grandparents.

[thejuice]

Yes I think its a great idea, if they can get feckin baseball into it why not Gaelic football.

[orangeman]

Northern Ireland could have their own team in it with Ian Junior and Conor Murphy a two man full forward line.

[orangeman]

Obviously Martin Mc Guinness would be in goals to make sure that nothing gets past him. ! 

[SeanSouth]

Cavanagh and Jordan could double up in the highboard diving........

[AZOffaly]

Yes I think its a great idea, if they can get feckin baseball into it why not Gaelic football.

Because baseball is played on a serious level in America, Mexico, most of the Carribean including Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico etc, Japan and Korea. There are a number of other countries where it is played by amateurs.

Who would play in the Olympics GAA tournament? County selections? Club players from places like America, UK, Hong Kong, etc?

One thing for sure, to be an exhibition sport, you couldn't have Ireland, with the county players, playing against anyone.

[thejuice]

sorry, i thought only US and Japan played baseball to any serious level. anyhoo, perhaps not letting Ireland in would be the only way to keep it competitive and interesting for other nations, although there might be concerns over the quality of the product although ive seen some very good players abroad

[tayto]

The European Board want to get Football and hurling recognised as olmypic sports. This dosent mean they'd be played in the olympics but that you get an official stamp of approval from the Olympic Commitee. This would free up grant aid in most European countries who link Olympic recognition to their sports capital grants. A very worthwhile idea in fairness and i see no reason why it couldn't be done.

[Star Spangler]

Absolutely no reason when you see some of the other sports "recognized" by the IOC.  It seems the sport must be "recognized" first before it can be added to the Olympic program either as a demonstration sport or an event.   This is taken from Wiki.  Wtf is Wushu??

Recognized sports

The following sports are not part of the Olympic program, but are recognized by the IOC.[12] Their respective International Federations (IFs) are responsible for ensuring that the sport's activities follow the Olympic Charter.

A recognized sport may be added to the Olympic program in future Games, by recommendation of the IOC Olympic Programme Commission and a vote by the IOC members. Usually, the sport will appear as a demonstration sport or an event of similar status before being officially promoted.[6] On July 11, 2005, the IOC voted to drop baseball and softball from the Olympic program for 2012, [13] a decision that was reaffirmed on February 9, 2006.[8] Nevertheless, the IOC members rejected their replacement with karate and squash, which were selected from a list that included golf, roller sports and rugby sevens. Recognized sports that are not part of the competition schedule for an Olympic Games, including the following, usually become part of the schedule of the World Games. On December 12, 2007, the IOC Executive Board approved the provisional recognition of the sport of cricket [14] .

    * Air sports
    * Bandy
    * Billiard sports
    * Boules
    * Bowling
    * Bridge
    * Chess
    * Cricket
    * DanceSport
    * Golf
    * Karate
    * Korfball
    * Lifesaving
    * Motorcycle sport
    * Mountaineering/
      Climbing
    * Netball
    * Orienteering
    * Pelote Basque
    * Polo
    * Powerboating
    * Racquetball
    * Roller sports
    * Rugby
    * Squash
    * Sumo
    * Surfing
    * Tug of war
    * Underwater sports
    * Water skiing
    * Wushu

[tayto]

Roller sports? dear god. Surely the olympics, and sport as a whole should try to help indigenous sports like Football and Hurling, Viv la difference and all that.

[rrhf]

Could ye imagine the British team standing for the anthem??

[under the bar]

Hardy-hands should also be an Olympic sport.  All nations can enter a team.

[carnaross]

I posted this on December 6.

"When I was in Birmingham for a club game about 18 months ago, I suggested to some people from Herts about the possibility of having Gaelic as a guest Olympic sport at the 2012 games. It was deemed to be a great idea, especially with 8 years to organise. I mentioned it again at a Yorkshire County Board meeting shortly afterwards and was told that the lads in London were already looking into it. I suggested an under 21's competition for tems throughout the country, so you'd be looking at building up the current 12-14's players for it. What better incentive is there to keep lads playing? I'm betting it'll be another opportunity missed by the powers that be. Maybe it could be something for the new County Development Officers to focus on. Ah sure, maybe i'm thinking too far outside the box for some people?"

My sentiments remain the same!!