Gaelic Football on BBC Breakfast

[carnaross]

There have been a few European teams in Feile Peil na nOg in the last few years - Barcelona in Limerick and "Team Brittany" from France this year in Kildare, to name just two. The team from Barcelona were without boots and all their group games were played as friendlies. Good to see them taking part - from small acorns grow.......

[slow corner back]

There was a french gaelic team from britanny over staying in Ballintoy during may, played a couple of games and had Peter Canavan ( I think) come up and talk to them and do a bit of coaching all french natives no ex pats. Pushing the Breton celtic cultural link I think.

[Gnevin]

Jays Gnevin, it does sound funny when you mentioned the European County Board!!

Well the FFFG sounds even funnier to me.

Fédération Française de Football Gaélique

[McPants]

Apparently they've got a few clubs in Scandinavia too, with the first Scandinavian GAA championships being contested this year.

http://www.europeanirish.com/news_details.php?news_id=1650
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kVM2vHMTd4

http://www.gothenburggaa.se/

[Rossfan]

The British Club U 14 Final is on next weekend in Birmingham.
Over the last year or so Dulwich Harps under age teams from London have visited Tulsk and Tir Conaill Harps(?) under ages teams  from Glasgow have visited Shannon Gaels.
Excellent work and long may it continue as  they seek to take our games "out of the ghetto" as it were and pass them on to the young folk whether or not of Irish descent.

[Tony Baloney]

There was a french gaelic team from britanny over staying in Ballintoy during may, played a couple of games and had Peter Canavan ( I think) come up and talk to them and do a bit of coaching all french natives no ex pats. Pushing the Breton celtic cultural link I think.

They visited a real hotbed of gaelic games! What was Peter's daily rate for that one?

[Leo]

I do hope all these English and French teams are publishing their fixtures in Irish and using Irish watermarked paper for submission of their teamseheets otherwise I see suspensions a-coming.

[Rav67]

There was a french gaelic team from britanny over staying in Ballintoy during may, played a couple of games and had Peter Canavan ( I think) come up and talk to them and do a bit of coaching all french natives no ex pats. Pushing the Breton celtic cultural link I think.

Rennes compete in the British university championships, their whole team is French.  Think theyve been coming over for a few years now.  New York have  a uni team competing as well, full of Americans.

[thejuice]

The British Club U 14 Final is on next weekend in Birmingham.
Over the last year or so Dulwich Harps under age teams from London have visited Tulsk and Tir Conaill Harps(?) under ages teams  from Glasgow have visited Shannon Gaels.
Excellent work and long may it continue as  they seek to take our games "out of the ghetto" as it were and pass them on to the young folk whether or not of Irish descent.

I was reading a match report for them at the weekend. Some of the names on the team sheet were Bayeto, Tohimiubiomo, Owwusu-ansah, Eka, Isichei and Baptiste. The rest were all English family names. Well done to that club for getting more people involved outside the Irish circles. It's something our own club need to start putting more effort into if we want to survive.

I think it's fantastic about the game spreading in Europe, Well done to all involved. I think it was one of the college teams in Birmingham which gave the GAA its first Hindu club chairman and first female protestant in another official position apparently.

[the colonel]

The British Club U 14 Final is on next weekend in Birmingham.
Over the last year or so Dulwich Harps under age teams from London have visited Tulsk and Tir Conaill Harps(?) under ages teams  from Glasgow have visited Shannon Gaels.
Excellent work and long may it continue as  they seek to take our games "out of the ghetto" as it were and pass them on to the young folk whether or not of Irish descent.

I was reading a match report for them at the weekend. Some of the names on the team sheet were Bayeto, Tohimiubiomo, Owwusu-ansah, Eka, Isichei and Baptiste. The rest were all English family names. Well done to that club for getting more people involved outside the Irish circles. It’s something our own club need to start putting more effort into if we want to survive.

I think it’s fantastic about the game spreading in Europe, Well done to all involved. I think it was one of the college teams in Birmingham which gave the GAA its first Hindu club chairman and first female protestant in another official position apparently.

that would be aston university, but they are talking about what they know of. I know Abertay had the chairman of the Rangers supporters club at Uni as the secretary of their GAA club for 2 years. Teams in scotland have had all sorts of people running their clubs

[carnaross]

On BBC 1 now.

Any links to it?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8099160.stm

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Christy Cooney was over here a few weeks ago - and he said they were planning on having the Feile Peil na nOg in London in 2012 just prior to the start of the London Olympics - hoping to showcase Gaelic Football to people from all around the world

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Not a bad idea, but I'm trying to get my head around the logistics of it - surely there would not be enough clubs to host unless they expand the coverage of the competition to include all of England or Britain and if they do that, then the large geographic spread of the competition activities would mean having to change the events around from what it normally is e.g. the parade would probably have to happen before any of the games?

They've got a few years to plan it - it's not really hard in a city the size of London to get pitches to play the games

I dunno if you've heard of it over there but there's a tournament called the Contonental Youth Championships played in the US each summer with over 200 teams (1500 players) from the ages of U-8 to minor in both boys and girls that takes place over 3 days.

If it can be done in the US - surely to god it can be done in England

[carnaross]

Christy Cooney was over here a few weeks ago - and he said they were planning on having the Feile Peil na nOg in London in 2012 just prior to the start of the London Olympics - hoping to showcase Gaelic Football to people from all around the world

Not a bad idea, but I'm trying to get my head around the logistics of it - surely there would not be enough clubs to host unless they expand the coverage of the competition to include all of England or Britain and if they do that, then the large geographic spread of the competition activities would mean having to change the events around from what it normally is e.g. the parade would probably have to happen before any of the games?

I remember a conversation with the under 14 mentors from Glen Rovers not long after London were given the Olympics. We said then "what an opportunity for the GAA to, either become an exhibition sport or have some kind of competition to coincide with the games". As it was an under 14's game we were playing we were talking about having an under 21's competition - this would have kept those 14's playing that day heavily involved right throughout to 2012, rather than losing them after the Feile in Ireland. I also mentioned the idea at a County Board to be told that the GAA were looking at doing something(!!). Now they've come up with this idea - hardly ground-breaking, and, as my Fintona friend states, a logistical nightmare as there will not be enough clubs in London and accommodation prices will be sky high for mentors and spectators. Housing clubs outside London won't work due to a four-hour journey for games in London for Lancashire and Yorkshire based teams, not to mention Scotland!!

[Archie Mitchell]

Noticed this on the Man City Website earlier today:

Free fun in the park with CITC

"City in the Park" is coming your way next month. City in the Community will be providing a wide range of sports and activities in a park near you this summer, completely free. The project, which is funded by the Premier League/PFA Community Fund and supported by Sport England and Manchester City Council, is geared to providing young people with the chance to experience new sports in their own neighbourhood.

Sports will include:

Handball
Gaelic football
Lacrosse
Tri-golf
Tag rugby

All these non-traditional sports will be played alongside mainstream sports such as football, cricket and basketball. There will also be arts & crafts, dance and much more available.

"City in the Park" is aimed at eight- to 13-year-olds, the only requirement being that a consent form is completed by a parent or guardian. The project is open access, so booking is not required. Consent forms will be available on the day or can be posted upon request.

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/default.sps?pagegid={DBD12D53-8346-431D-A04F-5D0F8664DE80}&newsid=6635098

Are there any other soccer/rugby clubs in England offering similar schemes in their area's? Would significantly increase the numbers involved in GAA if they did, as if the big soccer/rugby clubs are offering free schemes during the summer, large numbers will be going on the basis the big club providing it, and could in turn increase the awareness of the GAA and also increase teams/playing numbers in that area.