Gaelic Football Makes a Mark in Red Deer, Alberta
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
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BLAINE LAVERY
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The Eire Og Red Deer Gaelic Football Club of Alberta formed just one year ago is now a full-fledged member of the Western Canada Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Division. This means they can compete in all the Gaelic football tournaments.
I recently spoke with club member Blaine Lavery about the formation of the new club and future plans. Born in Red Deer, Blaine's parents are from Ireland, his father is from County Down and his mother is from Antrim.
After graduation Blaine spent about five years in Ireland where he mostly played soccer but enjoyed watching Gaelic football being played. Just before moving back to Canada, he played in a 7-aside Gaelic football tournament and became hooked on Gaelic football and wanted to continue playing.
"I was always checking the internet for information about the Gaelic football teams in Ireland," Blaine said, " and I came across the website for the Edmonton and Calgary Gaelic football clubs and thought Red Deer should also have a team.
"So I phoned up Rory Lynch, another Gaelic football fan, who had also lived in Ireland for awhile and played Gaelic football there and things just went from there. In a very short time we were able to form a Gaelic football team in Red Deer.
"We range from about 15 to 20 players and generally for practice we will have a good core of 10 players who come to practice twice a week. I also think that we will be getting a women's team formed since some of them have already played on the Calgary women's Gaelic football team."
Blaine said the local response from the general public in Red Deer has been very positive. "When we're out practicing in the field, people driving by have stopped to ask about the game.
"Also Canadian players who have joined the team and never heard of the game before really love the game. There's a great social aspect to Gaelic football, especially playing in the tournaments in other cities and having the opportunity to meet the other players."
For more information about Eire Og, the Red Deer Gaelic Football Club, call Blaine Lavery at (403) 304-0703 or e-mail: blainelavery@gmail.com or Rory Lynch at (403) 597-6684. Check their website at: www.reddeergaa.ca.
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RED DEER GAELIC Football Club Éire Óg: (L-R) [Back Row] Gary Murray, Rory Lynch, Braden Sacha, Johnny Dwyer, Diarmuid Dalton, Jordan Unreiner. [Front Row] Mick O'Toole, Fergus Lynch, Phil Harris, Mark Crossey, Darren Lavery, Caolan Lavery, Blaine Lavery. (Missing from the photo: Brian Haines, Gaelan Lavery, Greg Ducharme, Aidan Moran, Chris Weiss, Ian Rattan.)
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