Tales from the desert: Naomh Alee in Riyadh welcomes Irish Ambassador
October 01, 2014
Elaine Guerin Kelly, Feargal Nolan, Charles Sullivan, Brid O'Riordan, Marie Cotter, Ambassador Tony Cotter, Patrick Moynagh, Sean O'Sullivan, Sean O'Donovan, Noel Scanlon
Naomh Alee GAA Club in Riyadh welcomes New Irish Ambassador
Amid the sand dunes and 40 to 50 degree heat in the Arabian peninsula, on a Sunday and Wednesday night, just after the sun goes down, you can just about hear the thump of a football boot on a size 4 and size 5 O'Neills football, as the Gaels of Saudi Arabia ply their trade….in training for the upcoming GAA season in the Middle East.
Things are different for the GAA players in this region. Access to any sports-field, let alone grass, is difficult to begin with. And training or match sessions that involve men and women in a single venue is not readily accommodated in the homeland of Mecca and the original (and less threatening) claimant of the title 'Islamic State'.
Non the less, there is an active and enthusiastic group of men and women, ranging in age from twenty to seventy, who 'religiously' profess their affiliation for the GAA codes. The avid proponents of the GAA gather in twice weekly training sessions and in international competition across the region between September and May. The international reach extends across the Middle East region, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Sharjah, Al Ain and Bahrain as well as Saudi Arabia and occasionally, South Africa.
This week, the Naomh Alee Riyadh Gaels welcomed their new 'First Citizen' to Riyadh. Ambassador Tony Cotter (Cork), himself no stranger to Gaelic Games, and his wife Marie (Limerick), took office at the Irish Embassy in the Diplomatic Quarter of Saudi Arabia's capital city. And the local GAA squad were among the first targets on his list.
Club Chairman Patrick Moynagh (Cavan) welcomed Ambassador Cotter and his family to one of the largest oil producing countries in the world, a leading economic and political power that is becoming an increasingly important ally of the west, as the challenges in the broader region intensify.
More specifically, Ambassador Cotter was introduced to the longest established and first GAA affiliated Club in the Middle East. A club that had enjoyed early success just over two decades ago, but had witnessed declines in numbers and challenges to its team structures during the 'troubled years' between 2002 and 2010.
But in the last four years a new vitality has emerged in the Saudi Arabian GAA scene, ironically fuelled in no small part by the economic challenges facing mother Ireland.
As the young (and some not so young) gaels ventured out into the world "asking not what the world could do for them, but rather, what they could do for the world" to paraphrase a certain Mr Kennedy, a new energy was brought to the GAA overseas. Saudi Arabia and the Middle East has been no exception.
The Middle East GAA Season opens on Friday 24th October in Manamah, the capital of Bahrain. The Irish Festival accompanying over 120 football matches will run for two days. Men, women and children will engage on field and others will support from the fringes. Ball possession will be contested, systems will be played, blanket defences will be laid and lifted and on the Friday evening, 'to the victors…the spoils'.
Naomh Alee of Riyadh will contribute three teams to the tournament, in the hope and possible expectation that finals will be contested and…who knows, maybe silverware will return to the home of Mohammed. Either way, the men and women of Riyadh will go all-out to 'be the best that they can be' when they step out in the Green and White of Arabia. Spurred on no doubt, by the promise from our newest honorary club member and Ambassador that….. 'Any cup returning to Riyadh will be filled'.
Later, in the new year, Naomh Alee hope to host, for the first time in GAA history, the new President of the GAA, Aogan O Fearghail, in Riyadh.
The incoming President is already a friend of the Overseas GAA diaspora, it is expected that An Uachtaran Tofa will fulfil one of his first official GAA engagements after his investiture in Cavan in late February, by attending the inaugural GAA World Series, hosted by the Middle East GAA in Abu Dhabi in March. A first for the GAA and hosted by the newest County Board in the world.
In the meantime, the Naomh Alee GAA players will continue their preparation for the Middle East League in the hot, dry climate of the Arabian Desert. 'Inch Allah'….Please God……there could be silverware crossing the causeway in October. And as Marty Morrissey might say 'There won't be a Camel milked in Ar Riyadh' if there is.
Check out Namoh Alee Riyadh GAA online.
