our sports
WHAT ARE GAELIC GAMES?
Gaelic games are sports played in Ireland under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and are some of Ireland’s most popular sports. In our club, we practice Gaelic football, hurling, and camogie.
gaelic football
Gaelic Football is a distinctly Irish field invasion game played with a round football which can be caught, kicked and hand passed. The ball used in Gaelic Football is round, slightly smaller than a soccer ball. The ball can be carried in the hand for a distance of four steps and can be kicked or “hand-passed”, a striking motion with the hand or fist. After every four steps the ball must be either bounced or “solo-ed”, an action of dropping the ball onto the foot and kicking it back into the hand. You may not bounce the ball twice in a row. Players may contest for the ball by playing it with the hand or by shoulder charging an opponent side-to-side. To score, you put the ball over the crossbar by foot or fist for one point or under the crossbar and into the net by foot or the hand / fist in certain circumstances for a goal, the latter being the equivalent of three points. A goal is signalled by raising a green flag, placed to the left of the goal. A point is signalled by raising a white flag, placed to the right of goal. Source: GAA.IE.
camogie
Camogie (/kɑːmɔːɡiː/; Irish: camógaíocht) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide. The game consists of two thirty-minute halves. There is a half-time interval of 10 minutes. In the USA, each team has 13 players on the field. Players play with a hurl and a sliotar (ball) and wear a helmet for protection. The rules are almost identical to hurling, where the ball is passed from player to player by hitting with the hurl, hand passing or kicking, with a few exceptions. Adapted from: Wikipedia
hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic and Irish origin. The game has prehistoric origins, and has been played for 3,000 years. The objective of the game is for players to use a wooden stick called a hurley to hit a small ball called a sliotar between the opponent’s goalposts either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for one goal, which is equivalent to three points. The sliotar can be caught in the hand and carried for not more than four steps, struck in the air, or struck on the ground with the hurley. It can be kicked, or slapped with an open hand (the hand pass) for short-range passing. A player who wants to carry the ball for more than four steps has to bounce or balance the sliotar on the end of the stick, and the ball can only be handled twice while in his possession. Source: USGAA.