[Stormcrow73]

We had 7 on the field yesterday for the first ever Gaelic football played in Arkansas! County Tipperary was well represented with 3 families all originating from there coming out to either play or watch. UCA soccer was also represented and we're looking for more guys from there next weekend! No one wound up in the hospital either! It was very friendly and easy going.

My descriptions of the roughness of the game really only apply for the highest levels of play at the county level in Ireland. If you're looking for something to do on a Sunday afternoon, come on out and watch and meet some new faces!

[arguy1973]

makes me wish I didnt live 2 1/2 hours away..Id love to play.

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by arguy1973

makes me wish I didnt live 2 1/2 hours away..Id love to play.

We'd love for you to play! I'm certainly biased but I think it's a perfect sport for Americans. I think a lot of Americans would really love to be able to get into soccer but the way it's played just doesn't excite most of us. Gaelic football has a lot of the flow and beauty of soccer but with some physical elements and high scoring. It's really the perfect combination, or as near a perfect combination as I've ever seen.

One of my many goals is to get several smaller groups playing around the state. If we can do that, then we can have a small "league." So if you're interested and you could get even 3 or 4 other people from around your area to try it out, I'd be more than willing to drive out and teach the basics until you're ready to go it alone. We could arrange for several small games at each location throughout the summer. I've played some very fun games that were small as 5 aside so even if you don't have a full complement I'm sure some of the locals here wouldn't mind traveling that to help bring some numbers out. I mean...we're looking at having to travel to St. Louis as the nearest location for matches so 2.5 hours would be nothing!

[Stormcrow73]

New website up for this activity: Little Rock GAA. Is this considered advertising when there's no cost???

[Sam I Am]

Nope, it's just local news, storm! Thanks for the link!

[Stormcrow73]

After only a month of miniscule, word of mouth recruiting efforts, we're up to about 15 Gaelic football players with a good balance of men and women! We're going to be doing some indoor practices in January.

I am also VERY pleased to report, we have an experienced candidate who wants to lead a group in NWA!! So any residents up there who are looking for something to do in 2008 drop me a PM or go to our website (Little Rock GAA) and send me an email and I'll hook you up with our new NWA GAA lead. This is an excellent sport for soccer or basketball players looking for a bit more contact or football or rugby players looking for a bit less! It's an Irish sport...but you don't have to be Irish to play.