Teams from Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer
and Vancouver at the first 2010 WCD tournament
 EAMON O’KEEFFE, secretary of the Calgary Chieftains GAA, with club chairman Barry Sinclair. |
 RORY LYNCH of the Eire Og Gaelic FC of Red Deer, Alberta. |
 BRIAN DALY of the Edmonton Wolfe Tones Gaelic football club with club secretary Kim Budd at the tournament in North Vancouver. |
 ANGELA OLDKNOW of the Vancouver Harps Women’s Gaelic football team. |
 PETER AGNEW of the Vancouver Sporting and Social Club. |
 VISITING from Seattle at the GAA tournament were Meg Seyler and Carissa Streich.
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By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VANCOUVER – The weekend of June 26 and 27, dawned bright and sunny for the Gaelic football and hurling tournament. The Irish Sporting and Social Club of Vancouver (ISSC) presented the Western Canada Championship 2010 first round summer tournament. The event took place at Capilano Rugby Club in North Vancouver.
Teams from Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer and Vancouver took to the field in playing Gaelic football and hurling. Unfortunately, Seattle was not able to field teams this year.
Something new at the tournament this year, the Western Canada Division offered free introductory kids camp to introduce the unique aspects of Gaelic football to the next generation.
The tournament was in full swing when I dropped by on Saturday afternoon with everyone enjoying the fun and nice weather. I spoke with some of the men and women representatives from the various clubs.
BARRY SINCLAIR
Barry Sinclair is the chairman of the Calgary Chieftains and he spoke about some of the upcoming events for their club.
“We have managed to get enough numbers together for two men’s teams and we will be splitting the Calgary Chieftains for the Alberta Championship and tournament play into the Cuchulains and the Brian Boru’s.
“The ladies team has been going very well this year. They are building on the success of the past two years, their coach is Joe Whelan.
“The club has been fortunate to get the Unicorn Pub on Eight Avenue as a sponsor. The Unicorn is one of the first Irish pubs in Calgary and a very good establishment. Of course, the Irish Cultural Society (ICS) has also been fantastic at helping us out.
“We have a few new Irish emigrants in town and it’s a good support system for them. They are still trying to find their feet and are using the Chieftains to get to know people and keep in touch with some of their interest from home.
“Calgary probably doesn’t get as many students as Vancouver would but the new Irish members are up and forming a really good part of the club. It’s nice to get the new players in to keep everything fresh and in touch.”
For more information, e-mail Eamon O’Keeffe at: calgarychieftains@gmail.com. Visit the website at: www.calgary.gaa.
RORY LYNCH
Rory Lynch of Eire Og Gaelic Football Club from Red Deer spoke about the club and up-coming plans for the year.
He said, “We have plans to participate in both the championship tournaments in Western Canada and we have three rounds of the Alberta Cup to be played from Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer.
“So basically, five major tournaments and training in between. This year it has been tough in terms of numbers. We don’t have a lot of Irish, we rely mostly on second generation Irish and Canadian players.
“Red Deer is such a small city to attract the Irish players, basically we just want to compete. If we get a win or two out of it, we’re laughing.
“We like to give Edmonton and Calgary good competitive games and I think in the past four years that we have been in the league we’ve done that. There hasn’t been too many blowouts, which has been a good thing and we’ve managed to win a couple of games each year.”
For more information, e-mail Rory Lynch at: lynch.9@gmail.com. Visit the website at: www.reddeergaa.ca.
BRIAN DALY
Brian Daly of the Edmonton Wolfe Tones Gaelic Football Club spoke about the upcoming events for their season following the tournament in Vancouver.
“This year, we have two teams in the Alberta Cup. Calgary has two teams, there is a team from Lethbridge and a team from Red Deer. So we will have six teams in the Alberta Cup, and that’s absolutely fantastic.
“For the first time we will also have women’s teams competing in the Alberta Cup. Calgary and Edmonton will both have teams in the tournament.
“We have about 60 new Irish students who have arrived into Edmonton. About 12 are based in Edmonton and they play on the team, the rest are working in Fort McMurray. There are also some Irish women students who are playing on the women’s team.
“It was a great tournament the end of June in Vancouver. I always enjoy going to Vancouver for the tournaments, the club does such a fantastic job of running the tournaments.”
For more information, e-mail Brian Daly at: dalybrian@gmail.com. Visit the website at: www.edmontongaa.com.
ANGELA OLDKNOW
Angela Oldknow of the Vancouver Harps Women’s Gaelic Football team related that there are now enough women for three teams – Harps, Celts and the Shamrocks.
She said, “this is mainly because of the Irish students and the number of Canadians, joining the teams. Many of the Irish summer students not only enjoy playing the Gaelic games but have found that the socializing is a great way to meet new people. The players play at all levels of skill.
“The next big event on the books is the Western Canada GAA Championship tournament in Red Deer, which takes place over the July 31 and August 1 long weekend. The women Harps will be competing for the Tom Gibbons Memorial Trophy.”
Every Friday night, the women hold practices at Mercer Stadium at 10th Avenue and 6th Street in New Westminster, from 7-8 PM.
For more information about the women’s Gaelic football team, e-mail: ladiesfootball@isscvancouver.com.
PETER AGNEW
Peter Agnew, Vancouver Irish Sporting and Social Club football representative spoke about club plans this year and hopes and plans for 2011.
“Our year formally kicked-off with our 7 aside tournament which started in February and went right through until the end of March. Over 80 men and ladies took part in the tournament which was a massive success.
“Men’s training for the Western Canadian Championship started in mid-April and since then representatives from both the Harps and Celts has been excellent.
“For the championship round of games here in Vancouver, 19 players togged out for the Harps and 26 for the Celts. Our goal for 2010 for both teams was to be competitive in the championship and to have good representation in Red Deer for the second half of the championship.
“Looking ahead to 2011 we hope to follow in the footsteps of the ladies in Vancouver and start up a 9 aside city league with 3/4 teams participating.”
For more information on men’s football in Vancouver, e-mail: info@isscvancouver.com, or check-out their website at: www.isscvancouver.com.
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