Local Gaelic Football Club Adds World Renowned Brand As Sponsor

Ireland has just got a little closer to the Heart of Texas. The San Antonio Gaelic Athletic Club is pleased to announce a new sponsorship from Dublin-based Guinness (distributed locally by GLI) that will coincide with the unveiling of new jerseys for the 2014 gaelic football season. Guinness, with over two hundreds years of brewing history and a name known the world over, joins The Lion & Rose Restaurant & Pub as an Executive Sponsor of the SAGAC.

For the SAGAC San Patricios, the jersey isn't just a shirt with a number. The team's nickname takes its inspiration from the complex, intertwined history of the Irish and Mexican people in Texas. That bond, though evolved, continues here in San Antonio as native Irish play alongside Texans, service men and women and players from as far as Mexico, Honduras and Japan.

As a symbol of that connection, the new jersey will bear the names and logos of Guinness, locally-owned The Lion & Rose Restaurant & Pub as well as the four organizations that form the beating heart of the Irish community in San Antonio: the SAGAC, the Irish Cultural Society of San Antonio, The Ancient Order of Hibernians Columkille Division 1 and The Harp & Shamrock Society of Texas.

"This organization is basically a celebration of diversity," said Sligo County native and SAGAC Coach Adrian Brett. "The same way that Gaelic football is a mix of soccer, basketball and rugby, the SAGAC is a mix of all walks of life. Mixed with a good dose of Irish spirit, of course. You could say this club was born in Mosul, Iraq where one of our founding members was stationed. And here we are now, fifty strong in the Cradle of Texas Liberty, proudly wearing Guinness on our backs. I'll take that any day of the week."

The SAGAC will proudly debut the new kits when it kicks off the 2014 season versus the Houston Gaels at the South Texas Alamo Irish Festival on March 8th, 2014 at The University of the Incarnate Word. The Texas League season will continue with games against the Austin Celtic Cowboys and Fionn Mac Cumhaill's Dallas GAA leading up to the North American GAA Tournament over Labor Day weekend in Boston, Massachusetts.

"This is an important time in this Club's evolution," said SAGAC Chairman Sean Hipp, MD. "Our partnership with local organizations and businesses has formed a solid foundation for the future. Having the official sponsorship from Guinness is a significant stepping stone nationally in not only raising the profile of Gaelic sports in America, but also increasing the visibility of the incredible diversity and growth of San Antonio."

The San Antonio Gaelic Athletic Club, founded in 2011, is a local non-profit organization whose mission is to spread Irish culture through Gaelic sports.

For more information: Rick Ortiz at [email protected] or visit: www.sanantoniogac.org Tweet

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