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Gaelic football is a growing sport in Jersey – but recruitment of players has been a challenge in the past due to misconceptions about how the sport works and who can play it.
Jersey Irish Gaelic Athletic Association Club's public relations officer Megan Smith sat down with Express to address some of the misconceptions about the sport..
There’s a number of differences between Gaelic football and mainstream football.
Firstly the ball is allowed in your hands, each player is allowed to take four steps before they must solo the ball (kick it back into their hands) or bounce the ball.
Pictured: "It’s a very quick moving sport with lots of contact involved too, which everyone seems to enjoy the most!"
You score in a rugby-post-like setup with a set in the goal mouth. Scoring is by kicking the ball over the bar between the big posts for one point and scoring under the bar in the net is three points.
It’s a very quick moving sport with lots of contact involved too, which everyone seems to enjoy the most!
But if you’ve a football, basketball or even a rugby background then you’d be able to pick up the sport quite quickly.
The community is brilliant, the sport really brings people together.
Although there is healthy competition between club and county teams, there is also a huge level of respect amongst players and supporters.
Pictured: "There is a huge level of respect amongst players and supporters."
Our club size is at potentially the largest it’s ever been, especially with both a senior mens and ladies team both training on a regular basis during the season.
There is also the junior club, which has so many young children training during the summer months and taking part in the school tournament, so it’s great to see the next generation coming through the club.
When the club was originally established in 1993, there was only a men’s team. However now over 30 years later there is a mens team, ladies team and junior team.
There is various generations within the club, with some of the sons and daughters of the club’s original players now playing and being a part of the club community and committee which is great to see.
If you ask any of the players, the club is like a big family support network.
The main challenges in attracting players has been that not many people within Jersey know what Gaelic football is and how to play.
Pictured: The senior men's and women's teams train each week and compete in international competitions.
Many people have the misconception that you have to be Irish to play the sport which isn’t the case at all.
Whilst many of our players are Irish or have Irish parents, we have various different nationalities and ethnicities within our club.
We have also had a number of players join us but they’ve had to leave the island due to jobs. They still come back to visit so it’s great to see those connections remain.
I believe each player would have a different answer to this but I believe it’s playing as a team and also the speed and intensity of the sport – it definitely keeps you on your toes!
Bright and really exciting. We’ve a very solid foundation of men’s and woman’s players at the moment with lots of the newer players coming on in leaps and bounds.
We also welcome anybody who wishes to give the sport a try, get back into it or roll back the years with open arms too so don’t feel you can’t come try!
Both our senior mens (sponsored by Grant Thornton) and senior ladies (sponsored by Amala Aesthetics) teams are competing at the European Championships which are being held in Lyon in just three weeks.
It’s an extremely exciting time for the club, as this is what the senior teams work towards all season!
Jersey Irish GAA always welcome new players in their men's, women's or junior squads.
To get in touch contact jerseygaa@gmail.com or visit their Facebook or Instagram accounts
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