GAELIC FOOTBALL COMES TO LEYTON

LOCSP Press Release – Thursday 29 January 2009

GAELIC FOOTBALL COMES TO LEYTON

Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) continued in its quest this week to develop a plethora of sports for the young people of east London as Gaelic Football came to Leyton.

LOCSP coaches tried their hand at Gaelic Football thanks to a development coaching session run by the GAA London Community Development team aimed to introduce the basics of the sport to the coaches which can then be rolled out across the six London boroughs that LOCSP work in, thus ensuring that the GAA sports can spread across the capital.

Gaelic Football, one of the worlds oldest codified sports and played by 6,000 young people in England every week, is one of the four sports organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) alongside Hurling, Rounders and Gaelic Handball.

The session started with a presentation about the GAA history and discussion about the basic rules and skills before the rules and skills were put into practice, culminating in a small fun game amongst the coaches.

Neil Taylor, Chief Executive, Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme said:

“Having the GAA come down to coach our coaches in the art of Gaelic Football
represents our ongoing commitment to making a whole range of sports and
activities available to the young people we work with.

“The GAA have a wonderful history and are looking to develop their games in London through us which we are more than happy and able to do.”

Martin McGrath, Community Games Development Officer, London GAA said:

“As one of the best sports development set-ups in the country we are looking to
work with Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme to make links with the
London community and develop the GAA sports, particularly Gaelic Football,
throughout the city.

“Gaelic Football can be modified to suit any situation or set-up and can enhance skills for other games, such as rugby.

“It was absolutely important to emphasise the history of the game to the coaches
here today as the GAA is celebrating its 125th Anniversary this year and represents the ideal opportunity to develop the GAA sports in London and across England.”

Robert Tromans, LOCSP Community Development Officer, Participant said:

“It was really interesting to hear about the history and passion of the GAA
games and once the coaches started taking you through the basics it was really
easy to pick up.

“The sport will be very easy to implement throughout our sessions and multi-sports days and it is definitely a sport that the young people will be able to grasp straight away.”

Karen Togher, Community Games Development Officer, London GAA said:

“The Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme staff were absolutely brilliant
today, I couldn’t believe the quality - they were very good. I expected to have
to do a lot more coaching, but because they are so multi-skilled in all the different sports they coach and play in the community, taking up Gaelic Football was really easy for them.

“They are really enthused about taking the game into their community sessions, so fingers-crossed it will carry on from here.

“All they really need to organise the sport is a football - you don’t need specialist equipment. In fact, most schools and sports organisations have this equipment already, plus the game can be modified very easily to the playing area or participants you have.

“At Primary School level it is non-contact and we start off with the real basics; hand pass, toe tap and the basic five skills. At Secondary School level it is contact for boys at whilst remaining non-contact for girls and we look to progress their skills into the competitive club environment and we aim for them to be playing once a week at school.

“If anyone reading this has played Netball, Basketball, Tag Rugby, NFL Flag Football then you can adapt the skills to use in Gaelic Football, so why not give it a go?!”

Tommy Harrol, Chairman of the London Senior County Board, GAA said:

“Gaelic Football has been in London since 1896, but only in the past year were
we able to employ our first-ever full-time development officers.

“Up to now it has been voluntary, but one of the positive aspects of professionalism is that we can now have these two excellent full-time staff going into the community during the day whereas in the past they were only available in the evening after work.

“We aim to get the sport into every London borough and that is why we are working with Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme because of the tremendous potential they have in their six boroughs.

“We are now working in 29 Primary and Secondary schools throughout London and I would like to see the Gaelic Games resurface again through new clubs being formed and increasing the number of schools we work with.

“The GAA is a worldwide organisation now and any young people that play Gaelic Football through the Leyton Orient link-up has the potential to reach our London
developmental squads and play tournaments both at home and abroad!”

The GAA has future plans to hold high-profile, competitive games in London in the near future, but if you cannot wait until then, London has a team in Division Four of the Irish National League, who play at the Emerald GAA Grounds in Ruislip – their first game is this Sunday.

The London GAA is also running coaching courses in Ruislip in the next few weeks. For more information about the London GAA please visit their website at www.londongaa.org.

For more information about Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme please contact Phil Rudling on 020 8556 5973 or email philip.rudling@locsp.org.