The team from San Francisco making their way up Gay Street.
Tracy Guerriero was wandering down Gay Street in West Chester, her maple-leaf flag of Canada draped over her shoulder—and looking a bit at half-mast herself.
Guerriero, accompanying the Brampton, Ontario, Rebels, had only just arrived in West Chester that afternoon after a long bus ride. They had just marched in the parade to kick off the Gaelic Athletic Association’s Continental Youth Championships. All the kids had taken off in search of pizza or burgers or whatever they could find to eat.
Leaving Guerriero holding the flag, and with a severe case of bus lag.
“We left this morning at 4:30,” she said. “Ten hours on the bus with the kids—and one bathroom. We’re all a bit punchy.”
Looking only slightly less bedraggled were N. Martin and Miriam Skelly of the Gaeil Colmcille na nOg Club from Kells, County Meath. They’d just flown in from Dublin to Philadelphia the night before. Like all the other teams post-parade, they were checking all of the Gay Street restaurants—opening doors, looking, and seeing huge crowd. Places like Vincent’s, Peace a Pizza and Kildare’s were doing land-office business. The Skellys were hoping for a quick bite before heading back to the hotel. Other than the parade, they hadn’t yet had much time to sample Philadelphia hospitality. “We went to the films this afternoon,” said Martin Skelly, still looking a bit done in.
As night fell—and it was falling pretty quickly even as the parade wound down and the last team made its way up Gay Street escorted by local pipe bands—the town was crawling with kids and families from Ireland, England, and from as far away as San Francisco in the U.S. Ask them what they want to see and do, and the answers are predictable. Like the kid from Chicago standing in line at the Sprazzo gelato joint, who hoped to see the Liberty Bell.
For the group from Brampton, one stop seems essential: “We want to run up the Rocky steps,” said Guerriero. “And we have to have a cheesesteak.”
Of course, the main attraction for the 1,700-plus athletes is the Continental Youth Championships, held today, Saturday and Sunday at Greater Chester Valley Soccer Associations’ Line Road Complex in Willistown, Chester County. For details, visit the CYC Web site.
If you want to see the future of Gaelic athletics in the United States, this is where to see it. The CYC happens but once a year, and this is the first time it has been held in Philly. Check out the games and support the cause of Irish athletics on your home turf.
