Gaelic football international

[Eamonnca1]

Gaelic football - Brittany v Galicia. Not one Irish player on the field. Great stuff: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6ykd5mmJ-s

[From the Bunker]

Strange, but good! 

[muppet]

That is great if there is no Irish player on the field. They seem to be really in to it and enjoying it which is what it is all about. Some good scores too. I love the goal off the crossbar early on.

[rrhf]

There's huge potential in our games internationally just no will at leadership level

[Denn Forever]

Brilliant.

What's the French/Spanish for "Ya B&llix"?

[armaghniac]

Mind you, there isn't much interest in spreading GAA in Ireland either, in many cases.

[Asal Mor]

Great stuff.

[30mog]

Great stuff indeed!

At the Lancashire v Cork game in Manchester last weekend.  One of Lancs players, after being subbed, was pacing up and down the touch line offering his mates encouragement.  He had a Lancashire accent, but I think he was an exception.  I reckon I was the only spectator without an Irish accent.

Some friends of mine in Australia have a son-in-law from Leitrim.  Last I heard he had taken to playing with a Gaelic Football team in Adelaide.  Where a lot of the players had no Irish connection.  However, as South Australia is an AFL heartland.  I imagine a lot of similar skills are already there to be harnessed.

Here in England.  Only one game is ever going to hold the aces.  It emerged from a rule book written here by Sheffield FC.  But if you read it by clicking the link below.  I am sure you might agree that what the FIFA rule book of today has gradually come from is something more like AFL or GAA.  Personally, I think they should have left it as it was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_Rules#Rules_of_1858

[HeaveHo]

There's huge potential in our games internationally just no will at leadership level

You might be right but it is a hard sell.

Look at the AFL experience. The AFL have tried to get international interest in their game and have spent a lot of time and money on it for little return. Ireland would have the most interest in AFL outside Australia given the Irish lads playing in the competition but as you would know interest in AFL in Ireland is minor and way behind the established codes. Having a marketable product is the easy part - the sell is nigh on impossible.

[ballela-angel]

I came to Vermont in 1975 and never thought I'd see a sliothar pucked in my life-time here in Vermont, USA, other than my son and I pucking sliothars in my front meadow each spring, but I was wrong - The "Champlain Valley Hurling Club" started last year and they now have practice every Thursday night - Everyone of them are American born and quite talented with decent eye-hand coordination - How they got started was interesting - Some of the American soldiers stopping in Shannon going back and forth to Iraq and Afghanistan saw it on the TV, and some were able to go to games in Ireland - So they started playing it stateside, and some of them ended up in Portland, Maine, where a fellow joined them and then he moved to Vermont and brought it with him - Never thought I'd live to puck sliothars in my old age at practice sessions in Vermont, but strange things do happen - Proves an old saying, never give up on your dreams, no matter how crazy

[Eamonnca1]

Gaelic football might be a hard sell, but hurling most certainly is not.

[Zulu]

Football is not a hard sell, in fact it's an easy sell. The key to establishing any game is to establish it on the ground with kids 5 - 7 years of age. It's not the only thing you need to do if you want to develop it to the same standards as you get at home but numbers and self sustainability are key to developing standards. rrhf is correct when he says the GAA lack the will but they also have no plan which means their is no direction and no final goal. The GAA could wipe the floor with the AFL or NFL in terms of international development because it has an army of volunteers worldwide willing to do much of the work but there's no plan and there never will be.

[From the Bunker]

Football is not a hard sell, in fact it's an easy sell. The key to establishing any game is to establish it on the ground with kids 5 - 7 years of age. It's not the only thing you need to do if you want to develop it to the same standards as you get at home but numbers and self sustainability are key to developing standards. rrhf is correct when he says the GAA lack the will but they also have no plan which means their is no direction and no final goal. The GAA could wipe the floor with the AFL or NFL in terms of international development because it has an army of volunteers worldwide willing to do much of the work but there's no plan and there never will be.

Spot on plus they seem afraid to branch out, content with things within their own cocoon.

[Any craic]

Here's an all-Italian team getting ready to host a tournament on Saturday.. they're mad about Gaelic football and they don't need Irish any more! http://www.jeromequinnmedia.com/video/European-GAA/Italy/Italian-GAA-History-makers-1221

[Denn Forever]

Would we begrudge a jolly out there for some on from Croke Park? Heffo?