Hello,

My name's Alan. I'm from Mayo but I've been living in Clermont-Ferrand, France for the last 2 years. I have been playing with the local Gaelic Football team here; the Clermont Gaels and I recently decided to start documenting my experiences playing GAA in France. I have set up a blog and I would really appreciate it if you could check it out and let me know what you think and if you could tell some friends about it that would be even better!

You can find my blog at the following address:

http://www.onthebenchtostartingfrench.com/

AJ6000 (Mayo) - Posts: 32 - 18/02/2015 09:57:25    1694631

good stuff, just got to read a bit of it, great to see our games expanding all over Europe.

Rosineri1 (UK) - Posts: 2099 - 18/02/2015 18:21:20    1694825

Great stuff, love reading this and would love to give Gaelic a try in another country,

MonaghanGlory (Monaghan) - Posts: 738 - 18/02/2015 21:58:50    1694867

A great read, I played gaa in France too, but we coudn't get a team to play us. Seems like it's well set up these days.

The Real 1944 (Carlow) - Posts: 1114 - 19/02/2015 08:04:25    1694869

Yeah I agree this is a great read, fair play to you! Seems to be more and more teams popping up each year.

If the GAA is serious about growing the sport abroad they need to give it more exposure. Most GAA fans in Ireland would love to hear about the growth of the game in Europe and further afield but the majority don't even know that the sport is played anywhere else outside of the UK, USA and Australia. All I'd ask of the GAA is to include the results of the tournaments across Europe. A simple email is all that is needed to be sent and there will be people on this side of things more than happy to provide them with the information.

I agree with all of what you said here!

HandballRef (Donegal) - Posts: 520 - 19/02/2015 11:41:28    1694922

I'm hoping to open some dialogue with a member of the GAA's communications department about that point so hopefully something good will come from it!

AJ6000 (Mayo) - Posts: 32 - 19/02/2015 13:21:00    1694977

Hi Alan,

Nice blog, will make an effort to follow it.

There is serious potential for gaelic games in France, as there are long established leagues there (particularly in the north west). Have played a couple of French sides in the past and they have always had a considerable French contingent playing for them, many of whom were very talented.

Check out the French club crests on the European County Board's website, some crackers there.

http://europegaa.eu/eu-clubs/clermont/

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 19/02/2015 13:45:35    1694990

last year the Brussels ladies team qualified for AI Junior Semi final and acquitted themselves very well by all accounts.

Rosineri1 (UK) - Posts: 2099 - 19/02/2015 14:04:43    1694994

Nice blog, will try to follow it. I have began a recent craze of purchasing Worldwide GAA club jerseys on the Oneills website. Some nice stuff there. I have a Paris Gaels Jersey. The GAA should really market the games abroad more. Crazy to think what could happen if the GAA put some effort in.

PoppinPoints (Meath) - Posts: 225 - 19/02/2015 17:37:44    1695081

The Clermont crest is that of the "Bougnat" (Pronounced Boon-nyah) They were typically coal miners from the Massif Central region in which Clermont is situated who moved to Paris for work. Most of the Clermont team were sporting moustaches during the tournament in honour of our crest!

The Belgian Ladies beat the Junior Champions of England and then lost to the eventual the eventual champions Murroe Boher in the semis. They scored more against the champions than any other team in the competition if I'm not mistaken.

AJ6000 (Mayo) - Posts: 32 - 19/02/2015 17:46:26    1695082

Interesting blog, thanks for posting. I was a bit amazed at the Italy v France game, I'd never even heard mention of it before. It was great to see it, the players, the crowd, the TV report. I understand totally you're frustration with the lack of coverage given to these events back home, that match alone seemed like a landmark event. Similarly, I've often been bewildered at the lack of coverage given to the growth of hurling in America, amongst Americans, in places like Milwaukee and Indiana, as well as its growth in US universities. I'm surprised the GAA don't make more of it.

I remember years ago seeing a report on hurling on the same channel, France 3. Do they show any of the actual games from home, like either of the AI finals? Is there much hurling being played over there, or is it just football?

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 19/02/2015 19:57:24    1695130

The International match was a huge occasion and was something that the GAA really missed out on covering. There were both Mens and Ladies matches in the Football as well as Mens and Ladies Handball matches would you believe. The Handball matches were played against the side of the Toulouse rugby team's stadium. France completely dominated the Football whilst Italy completely dominated the Handball.

You would be lucky to get an Irish pub showing the All Ireland Finals and at that only the actually Irish run pubs will do it. I've had to stream the last 2 finals due to having no Irish pub even open on the Sunday of the finals. The French channels definitely don't show any matches but they have done quite a few reports on tournaments.

Hurling is played in a few clubs like Paris and Toulouse but it's not as easy to pick up as Football so they find it hard to attract any locals to play it.

AJ6000 (Mayo) - Posts: 32 - 20/02/2015 09:48:01    1695214

In fairness AJ what do you think advertising it back at home is going to achieve for you? for most in Ireland its "sure isn't that great" and then move on. Do you think you are doing the GAA a favor, most people in the GAA in Ireland wouldn't be able to grasp the concept of what having a proper international dimension to the game would do for the sport at home. They are quite happy to just have it within the 32 counties with the token presence of LN and NY. When you see the success the game can have outside the country you find this baffling but slowly things will change - you just have to keep at it, at the end of the day you are not doing it for the "GAA" but because of the game and what it means to you.

zinny (Wexford) - Posts: 1804 - 20/02/2015 15:33:17    1695349

The fact of the matter is that most people at home simply don't know that there are leagues taking place all over Europe. I'm just trying to let people know that Gaelic Games are being played by thousands of people across Europe and that foreigners are falling in love with our great sports. If this leads to the GAA getting the finger out and offering more support then great, if not I don't care because I'm enjoying myself writing about this stuff and I know others are enjoying reading it. The blog has been visited over a thousand times in it's first week so that alone shows people are interested in it.

AJ6000 (Mayo) - Posts: 32 - 20/02/2015 16:43:58    1695363

AJ6000
County: Mayo
Posts: 6

1695363
The fact of the matter is that most people at home simply don't know that there are leagues taking place all over Europe. I'm just trying to let people know that Gaelic Games are being played by thousands of people across Europe and that foreigners are falling in love with our great sports. If this leads to the GAA getting the finger out and offering more support then great, if not I don't care because I'm enjoying myself writing about this stuff and I know others are enjoying reading it. The blog has been visited over a thousand times in it's first week so that alone shows people are interested in it.

Fair play, Alan. I think people wouldn't know the levels of dedication that people in Europe show to play gaelic games; most seem to think it's just a booze-up (which perhaps it is for students over for the summer, but not so much for those of us with roots in the place). For example, two teams in the region that I play in are nine hours away by rail/ bus, but we'll field for their tournaments because we love the game. The level is still low here, but from little acorns...

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 27/02/2015 16:20:32    1697463