See that tough, determined face? Get set to see a whole lot more of them.
If you’ve never seen Irish football or hurling, this is the weekend to get a ground-level education in these two quintessentially Irish field sports as Philadelphia hosts its first-ever Continental Youth Championship.
More than 1,700 elite players from around the country—as well as Ireland, England and Canada—will converge upon the Greater Chester Valley Soccer Associations’ Line Road Complex in Willistown, Chester County for three days of non-stop Gaelic Athletic Association action. (The games are held Friday, Saturday and Sunday.)
This is the fifth year for the Continental Youth Championships. Previous tournaments were hosted by New York, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago. The CYC committee selects the host city, says Jeff Carty, spokesman for the Philadelphia Divisional Youth Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association.
Although it might be overstating things a bit to say that the tournament is critical to the future of GAA sports in the U.S., let’s just say … it can’t hurt.
“Gaelic football has been played by immigrants from Ireland in the Philadelphia region for over 100 years,” Carty notes. “The increasing size of adult programs can be directly tied to the development of youth programs. These kids are the future footballers in America and abroad.”
For now, though, no one is thinking that strategically. Everything is focused on making the games fun for the kids. Even if a kid does not go on to play Irish sports in adulthood, the skills are transferable to more traditional U.S. sports. “Gaelic football and hurling could help in the development of skillsets used in other sports played here in America,” Carty says. “Gaelic sports could improve man-to-man defense and body positioning used in basketball. Foot and ball control are very similar to what youth soccer programs are instructing. The timing of the (Gaelic athletics) season helps traditionally “off-season” training.”
Proceeds from the weekend will also go to boost development of Gaelic football as an athletic actvity blessed by the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO). Last Year, the Philadelphia Archdiocese approved Gaelic football as a non-sanctioned sport. “San Francisco has successfully developed programs in the CYO, while New York has implemented programs in both CYO and public school systems,” Carty says. “Boston is currently developing additional fields to be able to host all the games necessary for the local programs, which have grown to 21 adult teams. The growth is directly tied to their youth program churning out players for the senior teams.”
The championship tourney is not exlusively focused on purely athletic endeavors. Obviously, fellowship has a lot to do with it–including a big parade Thursday night, starting at 6 p.m., along East Gay Street in West Chester. The players will be escorted through town by local bands. You can get out and support the kids, and have a great time to boot.
