Gaelic Football in Alberta: Gearing Up for the 2006 Season
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
CALGARY - On my recent visit to Calgary, I dropped in to the Calgary Irish Rugby Club, where the Calgary Chieftains Gaelic Football Club were having their weekly practice.
At half-time in their game, I had an opportunity to speak with Kim Tulloch, who is the president of the Calgary Chieftains and Adrian Lagan, the Chieftains men’s manager.
Also present at the practice was Colin Baugh, who is the men’s manager of the Edmonton, Wolfe Tones Gaelic Football Club.
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KIM TULLOCH
Kim Tulloch said, “We have about 10 to 12 women on our Chieftains women’s team, but the number fluctuates. This year, we will have our usual three tournaments between Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. On August 5 and 6, Calgary will host the western division finals which will take place on this pitch.
“Gaelic football is kind of a mixture of all sorts of sports, so you really use a lot of plays with a lot of cardio parts to it. It really takes in your mind and body. For people who don’t know the sport, Gaelic football sounds a little intimidating.
“But if we can get people out playing, we usually get them hooked at that point. We draw a lot of players from soccer and friends of friends. We will take players at any age, as long as they can run.”
Kim is a Canadian with Scottish ancestry. She became enamored with Gaelic football when she attended university in Edmonton. She said, “ I played in Detroit and then I came back to play in Calgary. It’s a great sport because you get to meet lots of people and they’re a really good group of people.”
For more information about joining the Calgary Chieftains women’s team, call Kim at (403) 245-9343, or check-out their website at: www.calgarygaelicfootball.com.
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ADRIAN LAGAN
Adrian Lagan is the manager of the Calgary Chieftain’s men’s team. He was born in Toronto but was raised in County Derry in Ireland before settling down in Calgary. Adrian spoke to me about the team’s plans for the up-coming season.
“We’re expecting to play in the Edmonton tournament of June 3 and 4, and then we’re going down to Vancouver to play in the Vancouver tournament which is the western division championship. That takes place on the long week-end of July 1 and 2. And then the finals of the championship are here in Calgary on August 5 and 6.
“We practice every Wednesday, at 6:30 PM here at the Irish Rugby grounds. We have a game scheduled for 6:30 PM every Sunday. We’ve split our club into three teams and we play each other every week with tournaments as well. So, it’s a lot of football.
“We’re hoping to put a team into the Powerscreen 7-a-side in Toronto in September. There are Irish teams that come to Toronto for the tournament, so it’s a mixture of Canadian and Irish clubs, which makes for a big tournament.
“We’re hoping to bring along a women’s team as well. If we can get any support or interest, I think we’ll amalgamate the Edmonton and Calgary teams for the Toronto tournament.”
The men’s team is always looking for new players. Anyone interested can call Adrian Lagan at (403) 257-3068, or visit: www.calgarygaelicfootball.com.
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COLIN BAUGH
Colin Baugh is the manager of the Edmonton Wolfe Tones men’s Gaelic football team. Colin was born in Eskra, County Tyrone, and played for the Eskra Emmets team before arriving in Edmonton a year and a half ago.
Colin has been driving to Calgary on a weekly basis to practice with the Calgary Chieftains because the Edmonton club hasn’t yet started regular weekly football practices and he wanted to keep in shape.
“We’re always looking for new guys to play on our team,” he said. “We’ve been looking into the University of Alberta and their rugby club to recruit new members – any experience, no experience, we’ll take everyone. It’s a good day out. At the moment on our team we have very few Irish guys, but we’ve got a lot of good Canadian guys and they’ve adapted very well to the sport.”
The Edmonton Wolfe Tones women’s team is probably the most successful team in Alberta. They are made up of completely Canadian girls and they participated in Toronto last year, and put-up good opposition to the Irish teams in the tournament.
Colin said, “Christy Whelehan is one person who has really put Gaelic football on the map in Edmonton. He is really passionate about the game, and although he doesn’t play very much any more, he’ll soon get you going on the line. Everyone from Edmonton to Calgary to Vancouver, in fact the whole GAA scene in Canada, has a lot of respect for Christy Whelehan.”
For more information about becoming a member of the Edmonton Wolfe Tones Gaelic Football team, call Colin at (780) 221-4122 or visit: www.edmontongaa.com.
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