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Formation | 1 November 1884 |
---|---|
Type | Sports organisation |
Purpose | Management and promotion of Gaelic handball |
Headquarters | Croke Park, Dublin |
Region served | Ireland |
President | Conor McDonnell |
Parent organization | Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) |
Website | gaahandball.ie |
GAA Handball Ireland (Irish: Liathróid Láimhe C.L.G. na hÉireann) is the governing body for the sport of Gaelic handball in all of its codes in Ireland. Handball is one of the four Gaelic games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association.
Its headquarters is located in Croke Park, Dublin. There are approximately 200 handball clubs in Ireland. [1]
The national committee of GAA Handball is Ard Comhairle (the central council) on which the president sits as chairperson. As in the parent organisation, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), the president is elected every three years. Joe Masterson held the role of President from 2017-2020. [2] Dessie Keegan then took over from Masterson and served as President of the organisation from 2020-2023. [3] Conor McDonnell took over from Keegan in February 2023 and will serve as president until 2026. [4] Tom Moloney, who was appointed in an interim capacity in January 2022, [5] was succeeded by David Britton as manager in Autumn 2022. [6]
GAA Handball oversees four forms or codes of Gaelic handball, two domestic:
and two international as played in Ireland:
Since its foundation in 1884, the charter of the Gaelic Athletic Association has included handball as one of the sports to be promoted by the association. [13] In 1924, the "Irish Handball Council" (rebranded as GAA Handball in 2009) was established to promote and develop the game. [13]
From the 1940s to the 1970s, handball was popular in the Republic of Ireland. As years went by, handball lost its popularity. [14] Since the re-branding of the Irish Handball Council in 2009 to GAA Handball, the sport has seen an increase in popularity including through the organisation's promotion of the One Wall code in schools. As part of this initiative, several hundred one-wall courts have been built in schools across Ireland. [15] In 2012 Ireland hosted the World Handball Championships in the Citywest International Events Arena in Dublin, where a multi-court complex was erected to host the greatest International Handball event in history, with over 30 countries and 2,000+ competitors in attendance.
During the 2012 World Handball Championships, a new unified International Federation for the sport worldwide was established, the World Wall Ball Association (WWBA). [16]
There are many handball competitions that are run in Ireland. In 40x20, the main competitions are County, Province, and All-Ireland Championships plus the 40x20 Irish Nationals. In 60x30 Softball and Hardball. The main competition levels are County, Province, and All-Ireland Championships. In 2011 GAA Handball Ireland launched the 60x30 Nationals and this competition was held in July. [17] In One-Wall handball, the main competition in Ireland is the Irish One-Wall Nationals, and this has been held in Breaffy House Sports Arena, Castlebar, since 2009. Competitions are also held during the year by various handball clubs around the country. [18]
As with the Irish competitions, there are many international one-wall and 40x20 competitions, the main one being the World Handball Championships which are run every 3 years. In 2012, the 'Worlds' was held in Ireland, in the Citywest International Events Arena in Dublin. [19] The 2015 competition was held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. [20] The two codes of handball played in the World Handball Championships are 40x20 small court and One-Wall. In the 2009 World Handball Championships, players from Ireland won the 40x20 Senior Men's Singles (Paul Brady), Ladies Senior Singles (Aisling Reilly) and Ladies Doubles competitions (Fiona Shannon, Sibeal Gallagher). [21]
GAA Handball were granted planning approval in late 2017 to build a National Handball Centre at Croke Park. [22]
As of February 2019, the centre was under development. [23] The centre, located at the southeast corner of the stadium on Sackville Avenue, [24] was close to completion as of early 2021, [25] with the final minor stages of building delayed due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The new centre contains three 4-Wall handball courts - including a three sided glass wall show court with amphitheatre style seating for a capacity of 500 spectators, a Softball show court with seating capacity for 200 spectators and three 1-Wall courts. [26] It also contains offices for GAA Handball staff, a bar and cafe, and a community centre. [24] The centre was used as a testing centre by Ireland's national health service, the Health Service Executive, during the COVID-19 pandemic. [27]
While the centre's official opening was delayed due to both the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the final completion of remaining building works, the centre had a 'soft' opening in December 2021, allowing registered players to book the courts through Croke Park. [28] The first competitive One-wall handball match took place in the centre in December 2022 during the European 1-Wall Tour "EliteStop" held in the Centre on Saturday 10 and Sunday 10 December 2022. [29] [ failed verification ] The first competitive Four-wall handball matches to be played in the new centre are due to take place on Sunday, 2 April 2023 from 10am with the All-Ireland 4-Wall Senior Doubles semi-finals taking place in both Men's and Ladies codes. [30] [ failed verification ]
In late 2010, GAA Handball announced that it was to launch a new TV show on TG4 featuring highlights of the biggest competitions that were held over the preceding months.[ citation needed ] In mid to late December of that year, TG4 premiered the first ever edition of the GAA Handball show and it was followed by a six-part series that was broadcast in January 2011.[ citation needed ] Following the broadcast of these six episodes, a new series, of 8 episodes, was broadcast from January 2012.[ citation needed ] Further television coverage was shown on RTÉ, TG4, TV3 and Sky Sports for the 2012 All Ireland 40x20 Open Championships and for the 2012 World Championships.[ citation needed ]
Gaelic football, commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kicking or punching the ball into the other team's goal or between two upright posts above the goal and over a crossbar 2.5 metres above the ground.
Camogie is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities.
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, Gaelic handball and rounders. The association also promotes Irish music and dance, as well as the Irish language and it also promotes environmental stewardship through its Green Clubs initiative.
Croke Park is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Since 1891 the site has been used by the GAA to host Gaelic sports, including the annual All-Ireland in Gaelic football and hurling.
American handball, known as handball in the United States and sometimes referred to as wallball, is a sport in which players use their hands to hit a small, rubber ball against a wall such that their opponent(s) cannot do the same without the ball touching the ground twice or hitting out-of-bound. The three versions are four-wall, three-wall and one-wall. Each version can be played either by two players (singles), three players (cutthroat) or four players (doubles), but in official tournaments, singles and doubles are the only versions played.
Gaelic games are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the sports, are both organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Women's versions of hurling and football are also played: camogie, organised by the Camogie Association of Ireland, and ladies' Gaelic football, organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. While women's versions are not organised by the GAA, they are closely associated with it but are still separate organisations.
Sport in Ireland plays an important role in Irish society. The many sports played and followed in Ireland include Gaelic games, association football, horse racing, show jumping, greyhound racing, basketball, fishing, handball, motorsport, boxing, tennis, hockey, golf, rowing, cricket, and rugby union.
Gaelic handball is a sport where players hit a ball with a hand or fist against a wall in such a way as to make a shot the opposition cannot return, and that may be played with two (singles) or four players (doubles). The sport, popular in Ireland, is similar to American handball, Welsh handball, fives, Basque pelota, Valencian frontó, and more remotely to racquetball or squash. It is one of the four Gaelic games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). GAA Handball, a subsidiary organisation of the GAA, governs and promotes the sport.
The Dublin County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Dublin GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in the Dublin Region and the Dublin county teams. The teams and their fans are known as "The Dubs" or "Boys in Blue". The fans have a special affiliation with the Hill 16 end of Croke Park.
The Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Tipperary GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Tipperary and the Tipperary county teams.
The Down County Board or Down GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Down,.
The Monaghan County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Monaghan GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Monaghan and the Monaghan county football and hurling teams. Separate county boards are responsible for the promotion & development of handball, camogie and ladies' football within the county, as well as having responsibility for their representative county players/teams. The current team sponsor of Monaghan GAA is Investec.
Eoin Kennedy is an Irish handball player from Fingal, Ireland. He is a member of Saint Brigid's GAA club. By profession he is an engineer and a former lecturer at NUI Maynooth.
The All-Ireland Senior Softball Singles title is an all-Ireland Gaelic Athletic Association competition between all 32 counties of Ireland which first commenced in 1925. The first senior hardball singles title was won by M. Joyce of Dublin, a player from Urlingford, County Kilkenny. Kilkenny have won the most titles, with a total of 22.
The following is an alphabetical list of terms and jargon used in relation to Gaelic games. See also list of Irish county nicknames, and these are very interesting.
One-wall handball, also known as 1-wall, wallball or international fronton, is an indirect style of a ball game where the player hits a small rubber ball with their hand against a wall. The goal of the game is to score more points than the opponent. The player then hits the ball, and the ball bounces off the wall and the floor within court lines, if the opponent fails to return the ball, the player scores a point. The sport was created to bring varieties, such as American handball, Basque pelota, Patball, Gaelic handball, Pêl-Law and Valencian frontó.
The National Handball Centre is an indoor handball facility located on the Croke Park campus in Dublin, Ireland. It serves as both the national venue for All-Ireland Gaelic handball finals and as the headquarters of GAA Handball, the sport's national governing body. The new centre replaces the old Croke Park Handball Centre that was built in 1970.
UK Wallball is the governing body for the sport of Wallball in the United Kingdom.
The European 1-Wall Tour, also known as the European Wallball Tour or the 'Euro 1 Wall' Tour, is a One-Wall handball/Wallball tour that takes place at various stops across Europe including the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy.
The Irish Wallball Nationals is a wallball/one-wall handball tournament held annually in Ireland in early July. The tournament is the main wallball/One-wall handball on the Irish handball calendar.
We have [..] 200 approx Handball Clubs nationwide