About Us
New York Ladies GAA was founded in October 1991 and has had as many as nine teams involved in competition.
The County Board governs teams in the Tri-State area but is predominantly based in the Bronx/Yonkers region of New York.
Games are played in Paddy’s Field located in Van Cortlandt Park in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx, Rockland GAA pitch located in Orangeburg in Rockland County and in Gaelic Park on West 240th Street off Broadway in the Bronx. For directions click here.
The New York Ladies GAA is affiliated with Cumann Peil Gael Na mBan and operates under its general Rules. There are currently six Senior Teams with an under-age program in the Bronx and Rockland. There are two major annual competitions which are the Annie Kearney Cup and the Sean Faherty Championship. The Annie Kearney Cup is a 13 a side knockout competition open only to home based players. The cup was presented by the Kearney Family of Kerry in memory of their late mother. Mary Kearney-Cooney, daughter of the late Annie Kearney, still plays with Kerry/Donegal. The Sean Faherty Championship is the highlight of the Ladies season. This cup was first presented by the Leitrim Ladies in 1992 in memory of Sean Faherty (trainer) a native of Dublin who died tragically that year.
The Championship is played under a League system with each team meeting each other at least once during its course. The League winners are presented with the Louis O’Hehir Cup named after Louis O’Hehir a native of Co. Westmeath who died tragically in March 1993. Louis was husband of Marti Devaney O’Hehir, the secretary of Cumann Peil Gael Na mBan Nua Eabhrac at that time. Summer sanctions are eligible to play in this competition. The Peter Connaughton Cup is a spin-off of the Sean Faherty Championship in which the weaker teams participate. This cup was first introduced in 2000 and presented by the Connaughton Family Riverdale/Roscommon in memory of Lifetime President Terry Connaughton’s father Peter.
New York Ladies host an annual Seven-a side tournament in May. The Mattie Farrelly Cup is presented to the winners. The cup was presented by the Farrelly family in memory of a great stalwart of the Cavan Ladies club Mattie Farrelly who attended all games until his untimely death in 2000.
There is also a Shield competition in the Seven-a-side tournament and the winners are presented with the Barry Fitzgerald Cup. This cup was presented to the Ladies Association by Barry Fitzgerald a long time friend and supporter of the New York Ladies GAA.
WHAT IS GAELIC FOOTBALL
Ladies Gaelic Football can be described as a mixture of soccer and rugby, although it predates both of those games. It is a field game which has developed as a distinct game similar to the progression of Australian Rules. Indeed it is thought that Australian Rules evolved from Gaelic Football through the many thousands who were either deported or emigrated to Australia from the middle of the nineteenth century. Gaelic Football is played on a pitch approximately 137m long and 82m wide. The goalposts are the same shape as on a rugby pitch, with the crossbar lower than a rugby one and slightly higher than a soccer one. The ball used in Ladies Gaelic Football is a round Size 4 football, slightly smaller than a soccer ball. It can be carried in the hand for a distance of four steps and can be kicked or "hand-passed", a striking motion with the hand or fist. After every four steps the ball must be either bounced or "solo-ed", an action of dropping the ball onto the foot and kicking it back into the hand. You may not bounce the ball twice in a row. To score, you put the ball over the crossbar by foot or hand / fist for one point or under the crossbar and into the net by foot or hand / fist in certain circumstances for a goal, the latter being the equivalent of three points.
Each team consists of fifteen players, lining out as follows: One goalkeeper, three full-backs, three half-backs, two midfielders, three half-forwards and three full-forwards. The actual line out on the playing field is as follows:
- A game is played over two halves of 30 minutes. Players wear a jersey with their team colors and number on the back. Both teams must have different color jerseys. The goalkeepers' jerseys must not be similar to the jersey of any other player. Referees normally tog out in a dark green jersey, socks and togs.
- Goalkeepers may not be physically challenged whilst inside their own small parallelogram, but players may harass them into playing a bad pass, or block an attempted pass.
- Teams are allowed unlimited substitutes in a game. Players may switch positions on the field of play as much as they wish but this is usually on the instruction of team officials.
- Officials for a game comprise of a referee, two linesmen (to indicate when the ball leaves the field of play at the side and to mark '45'' free kicks and 4 umpires (to signal scores, assist the referee in controlling the games, and to assist linesmen in positioning '45' frees).
- A goal is signaled by raising a green flag, placed to the left of the goal. A point is signaled by raising a white flag, placed to the right of goal. A '45'/'65' are signaled by the umpire raising his/her outside arm. A 'square ball', when a player scores having arrived in the 'square' prior to receiving the ball, is signaled by pointing at the small parallelogram.
For more information on playing rules click here.
