United States GAA

Last updated
USGAA
Us gaa logo.png
Irish:Bord Contae na Stát Aontaithe
de Chumann Lúthchleas Gael
Founded:1987;37 years ago (1987)
Province: North America
Dominant sport: Gaelic football
Ground(s):
County colours: Red  White  Blue
Website: County board website
Executive
Chairman:Bernie Connaughton [1]
Secretary:Liam Moloney [1]
Treasurer:Tom Walsh [1]
Clubs
Total:130

The United States County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or USGAA, is one of the 3 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in North America, and is responsible for Gaelic games in the United States (except for the New York metropolitan area, which is administrated by the New York GAA). The county board is also responsible for the United States county teams.

Contents

History

Hurling and Gaelic football have been played in North America ever since Irish immigrants began landing on North American shores. The earliest games of hurling in North America were played in St. John's, Newfoundland in 1788, [2] and there are records of football being played in Hyde Park (now the site of the Civic Center) in San Francisco as early as the 1850s.[ citation needed ] There are established clubs in the cities that traditionally have a large Irish population, such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Boston.

When the North American county board was formed it included Canadian clubs in its area of control. However these clubs are now under the control of the Canadian county board. [3]

In recent years, hurling has started to enjoy support in several other U.S. cities, as evidenced by the establishment of the Milwaukee Hurling Club in 1995 and later the Twin Cities Hurling Club (MN). Other clubs include the Indianapolis Hurling Club, the St. Louis Gaelic Athletic Club, the Denver Gaels, the Greenville Gaels, the Orlando Hurling Club and the Seattle Gaels. Hurling is also starting to gather support at the club level at some universities, such as at Purdue University and Stanford University since 2005, California State University, Monterey Bay since 2006, and UC Berkeley since 2008.

Interest in Gaelic Football has also developed amongst universities in America. Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia is the first school to have an officially recognized program after running independently since 2011. Boston College's program has been running since 2011, while two other Philadelphia-area institutions, Villanova University and Drexel University, hope to launch club programs soon.

As of 2017 more than 51% of registered players in the United States were born there. This number is an underestimation as many clubs do not register all players that select to play only local games.

Early 21st century

The GAA in North America became the victim of two major developments in the early 21st century. One was the security clampdown that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the other was the massive growth in the Irish 'Celtic Tiger' economy. These two factors led to a reduction in the number of people travelling from Ireland to the U.S., and it became difficult for many Irish people to stay in the country illegally. Additionally, many Irish emigrants returned to Ireland, where they enjoyed a high standard of living that wasn't available to earlier generations. [4] These factors reduced the number of people playing GAA in larger U.S. cities. The trend was partially offset by growth in smaller cities. With the onset of economic crisis of the late 2000s the flow of emigrants back to Ireland and into America has changed once again but current U.S. immigration policies have meant that the number of Irish that used to go to America is not now the same.

Grassroots development is taking on a life of its own. Youth programs are springing up across the country and in particular are experiencing huge growth thanks to the success of the Continental Youth Championship.

Competitions

USGAA Finals

A game of hurling, DC Gaels versus Shamrocks during the Gaelic Games held in Philadelphia Hurling sport - Taking a swing.jpg
A game of hurling, DC Gaels versus Shamrocks during the Gaelic Games held in Philadelphia

Each year on Labor Day weekend, the USGAA holds a championship between the clubs in all U.S. cities where there are GAA-affiliated clubs (except for New York city). Playoffs are held between the Gaelic football, hurling and camogie champions of the different regions in the United States, to determine the USGAA champions. Play off locations:

Grades

The championships are divided into different grades.

  • Men:
  • Ladies:
    • USGAA Senior Ladies Football Championship
    • USGAA Intermediate Ladies Football Championship
    • USGAA Junior A Ladies Football Championship
    • USGAA Junior B Ladies Football Championship
    • USGAA Senior Camogie Championship
    • USGAA Junior Camogie Championship

The Continental Youth Championships

The Continental Youth Championship (CYC) began in 2004, hosted by the New York GAA. This is an annual weekend tournament that takes place in various cities from year to year. The most recent CYC was held in August 2018, contested in Canton, Massachusetts, and hosted by the Boston GAA. [6] CYC involves under age teams from all three of the GAA jurisdictions in North America playing football, hurling, ladies' football, and camogie at all ages from Under 8 to Under 18.

Clubs

In 2015 in the USGAA area, there were 116 adult clubs and 14 Youth clubs playing Football, Hurling or Camogie in the US outside New York City. These clubs participated in Divisional Championship competitions to qualify for the USGAA Finals in their respective sport and grade of competition. As of 2017, Gaelic games were being organized and played in over 60 cities across the US, including:

List of clubs

See List of GAA clubs in North America

Football

County team

The United States GAA will enter a county team for the first time ever in 2024. They will compete in the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camogie</span> Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women

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 Western Divisional Board of the North American Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) colloquially San Francisco GAA is the governing body of hurling, camogie, and Gaelic football in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is affiliated to the North American Board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antrim GAA</span> Governing body of Gaelic games

The Antrim County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Antrim GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The county board is also responsible for the Antrim county teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavan GAA</span> County board of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland

The Cavan County Board or Cavan 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 Cavan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derry GAA</span> Gaelic games governing body

The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Derry GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. The county board is also responsible for the Derry county teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerry GAA</span> Governing body of Gaelic games in County Kerry

The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), or Kerry GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry, and for the Kerry county teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Offaly GAA</span> County board of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland

The Offaly County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Offaly GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Offaly. Separate county boards are also responsible for the Offaly county teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roscommon GAA</span> County board of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland

The Roscommon County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) or Roscommon GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Roscommon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaelic Games Europe</span> Unit of the Gaelic Athletic Association

The European Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Gaelic Games Europe is one of the international units of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), and is responsible for organising Gaelic games in continental Europe. Gaelic Games Europe is also responsible for the European Gaelic football, hurling, camogie and ladies' Gaelic football teams which compete every three years at the GAA World Gaelic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York GAA</span> County board of the Gaelic Athletic Association

The New York County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, or New York GAA is one of the three county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in North America, and is responsible for Gaelic games in the New York metropolitan area. The county board is also responsible for the New York county teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cappagh GAA</span>

Cappagh is a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland. It was the Kildare club of the year in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaelic Games Canada</span> Unit of the Gaelic Athletic Association

Gaelic Games Canada (GGC), or the Canadian GAA (CGAA), is responsible for Gaelic games across Canada, overseeing approximately 20 clubs. It has the same status as one of the county boards of Ireland and is one of over thirty regional GAA executive boards throughout the world. The board is responsible for Gaelic football, hurling, camogie, rounders, gaelic handball, and ladies' Gaelic football teams in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Continental Youth Championship</span>

The Continental Youth Championships (CYC) is an annual weekend tournament of Gaelic football, hurling, and camogie organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association. It is contested by teams from the US and Canada, and is a separate competition from the existing youth championships in the New York, Canadian, and NACB areas. It began in 2004, and its location rotates around various cities from year to year. The age of players ranges from Under 8 to Under 18.

The Montreal Shamrocks GAC is a sports club in Montreal, Canada, associated with the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland. The club operates under the Canadian GAA board in the Eastern Canada division.

Although many hurling clubs exist worldwide, only Ireland has a national team. Ireland's national hurling team and the Scotland shinty team have played for many years with modified match rules in international composite rules—much like international rules football brings together Gaelic football and Australian rules football. This match is the only such international competition.

The Northeast Divisional Board is a division of the United States GAA (USGAA) covering the Boston Metropolitan Area. It is the largest division of the USGAA, which in turn is affiliated to the Gaelic Athletic Association in Dublin, the governing body for Gaelic games. The Northeast Divisional Board headquarters are at the Irish Cultural Center (ICC) in Canton, Massachusetts, which has hosted USGAA championships and tournaments combining the USGAA and the other two North American GAA affiliates, the New York GAA and the Canadian GAA.

Annaghdown GAC is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in County Galway, Ireland. The club is a member of the Galway GAA and was founded in 1887. Underage teams in both hurling and football play in the Galway league and championships. Annaghdown are a dual club and cater for Gaelic football, hurling and Ladies football. There was a camogie club in the parish in times past when Corrandrum fielded a team, but the ladies of the parish now play camogie with Carnmore, Turloughmore or Castlegar clubs.

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.

Good Counsel GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in County Dublin, Ireland. The club is based in Drimnagh in the south of Dublin.

References

  1. 1 2 3 2023 County Board
  2. ↑ "USGAA History". usgaa.org. US Gaelic Athletic Association. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  3. ↑ "Montreal History". Archived from the original on September 25, 2008. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
  4. ↑ "OB Sports - RTÉ television" . Retrieved 2006-11-29.
  5. ↑ "USGAA History". USGAA. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  6. ↑ "Boston Welcome Letter" (PDF). 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2018– via amazonaws.com.
  7. ↑ "USGAA county team make history by competing in All-Ireland Championship for first time ever".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.