Welcome to the New York Ladies GAA

Gaelic 4 Girls

Gaelic 4 Girls began in 2003 and initially started as a skills program using coaches from within the New York Ladies Senior Teams. The concept of such a program came about from a motion by the Fermanagh Ladies Team at 2002 Congress calling on the Ladies GAA to research starting an under age program. In 2003 under the chairmanship of Nollaig Cleary and Development Officer Pauline Boylan the program began with an initial registration of 35 girls, primarily in the U-10 age group.

2004 began with an open registration and 68 girls participated that season. Registrants ranged in age from 6-16 and were divided into their age groups with 2 coaches assigned to each group. In May 2004 the Tg4/O’Neills Ladies All Star Team visited New York and participated in coaching sessions with the young players. Each player left these coaching sessions rejuvenated and arms abundantly full of ‘goodies’.

Gaelic 4 Girls May 2004 All-Star visit

2005 U-16’s with Coaches Joanne Monaghan, Louise & Eleanor Fox

2004 was also the inaugural year of the Continental Youth Championships with New York being honored as the host. It was held in the grounds of SUNY College in Purchase and in the Ladies competition New York competed in both the U-12 & U-16 age group. Much to their delight they also came away with the laurels in both levels defeating a Boston/San Francisco team in the U-12’s by a score of 3-6 to 3-1 and a San Francisco team in the U-16’s by a score of 3-7 to 1-2.

2005 U-12’s with Coaches Anne Holland & Catherine O’Malley Missing from photograph is Pauline Coll

2005 the program moved further ahead with an ever increasing number of participants. Saturday coaching saw us moving north to Rockland which helped develop an in-built competitive system primarily in the U-8 and the U-16 age groups. During the course of the year New York once again entered into the Continental Youth Championships this time bringing them west to San Francisco. A total of 48 players traveled along with 8 coaches and a large supporting group. New York entered into the U-12, U-14 & U-16 divisions and were victorious in all but the U-12 group. Teams were entered from San Francisco, the host, Philadelphia and Ottawa. San Francisco was the opposition in all three finals with the U-16 final going to overtime and New York winning by the minimum – 0-19 to San Francisco’s 1-15. The U-12’s lost by the minimum – 1-7 to San Francisco’s 1-8. By year’s end the program had strengthened to a registration of over 120 girls – the word was spreading – they were having FUN!

2005 U-14’s with Coaches Teresa O’Reilly & Louise Fox Also in photograph
Nollaig Cleary – New York County Chairperson

2006 saw the dawning of a new era in Ladies underage football with New York entering into the Feile Peil Na nOg competition which was held in Co. Wicklow. This was a first for the New York under age and proved a tremendous success with the New York team playing outstanding football. The first game of competition was against Eire Og with New York coming away victorious by a score of 0-5 to 1-1. New York’s next game of the event was against Killanerin and here again were the victors reflected by a score line of 3-1 to 0-1. Their next game was by far the toughest in the competition and unfortunately New York were defeated by the eventual Group Winner, Armagh, on a score line of 5-3 to 1-2. Anne Holland was the Team Manager for this trip and was assisted by Kieran Traynor & Mary Tierney. The Tour Chairperson for the trip was Caroline Conway-Bogue who did a fantastic job at not only supporting the New York team at each match but also ensuring that there was never a dull moment for both management and players and the supporters who also traveled.

Back row: K. Traynor, A. Holland, C. Hynes, E. Bunten, MA. Gormley, C. McBrien, A. Callery, B. Fogarty, A. McGovern, A. Brophy, N. Fox, K. McEvoy, M. Tierney & C. Conway-Bogue
Front row: M. Hynes, K. Holland, K. McCormack, C. Brown, N. Kilkenny, R. Clarke (Captain), N. Brophy, A. O’Sullivan, N. McEneaney & B. Tierney

The Feile trip was followed by the ever successful Continental Youth Championships – this time the venue came back East to Boston. It was noticeable that more girls’ teams from around the country had entered the competition with the standard of football on display greatly improved. Here New York entered teams in the U-10’s, U-12’s, 2 U-14’s, and U-16’s and for the first time an U-18 team. They were also joined by teams from Rockland in the U-8’s, U-10’s and U-16 category. Rockland came away victorious in the U-8 defeating Boston by a score of 1-1 to 0-3. New York, coached by Noreen O’Brien, Nicola Rogan & Pauline Coll, defeated Rockland in the U-10 final by a score of 4-3 to 3-1. The U-12’s, coached by Mary O’Rourke, Monica Slevin & Kieran Traynor, New York defeated Chicago by 0-6 to 0-5 and the U-14 title also went to New York who defeated San Francisco by a score of 1-12 to 3-3 under the watchful eye of coaches Rosie O’Reilly, Kieran Traynor & Aisling Doonan. The U-16’s, coached by Louise Fox and Connie Molloy, were defeated by a San Francisco/Philadelphia combo with a score of 4-6 to 1-7. And the New York U-18 team, coached by Louise Fox and Connie Molloy, defeated the San Francisco/Philadelphia combo by a score of 1-14 to 2-4. This year also saw the introduction of Player of the Year which were presented at the annual awards party in Kelly Ryan’s and they were: U-10 – Mairead Hynes, U-12 – Noelle Brophy, U-14a – Caitlin Hynes and U-14b - Nicole Longo and with Ashley Brophy receiving the Feile award, U-16 – Stephanie Tierney and U-18 – Kelly McArdle. By years end there was now over 200 players registered in the program which was opening the doors to newer ventures.

Enjoying the Cúl Camp in Gaelic Park

2007 saw the introduction of the Cúl Camp held in Gaelic Park and in Rockland in July also marking the first Camps ever held outside Ireland. It was for age groups from 6-9 with 80 kids in the New York camp and 60 participating in the Rockland camp. Along with two coaches from Ireland the kids were put through their paces by players from the New York Ladies. Over 40 girls participated in all and overall the venture was a tremendous success. In 2008 in conjunction with the Minor Board the Ladies will host 2 summer camps.

For other Cúl Camp under age pictures click here

The New York U-14 Team went down in history as the first team to play on the new surface in Gaelic Park against the Philadelphia U-14’s. They were victorious by a score of 1-7 to 0-0. About four weeks later it was off to Leitrim the Host for the 2007 Feile competition. The team was placed in Division 4 and was hosted by Sean O’Heslin’s GFC of Ballinamore. In preparation for the competition New York played two challenge games – the first against, Cavan club, Lavey which New York won by a score of 2-5 to 1-7. Their next challenge was against Fermanagh team, Derrylin, in which they were also victorious by a score of 6-10 to 2-1. Their first game of the Feile competition was against Sean O’Heslin’s. New York overpowered the hosts by a score of 6-9 to 0-0. Their next game was against Mohill and here too they were victorious by a score of 5-9 to 0-0. This was followed by a face off against Philadelphia. The winners of this game would advance to the semi-finals and would play against either O’Donovan Rossa (Derry) or Kinawley (Fermanagh). New York won this game 2-5 to 0-0 but lost influential mid-fielder, Caitlin Hynes, to a red card. With just hours to regroup before their semi-final New York went on the road to Drumshambo to play O’Donovan Rossa. The winners of this game would advance to the final with the losers playing Kinawley in the other semi-final. New York had a huge support with host club Sean O’Heslins cheering them every step of the way. In an exciting game New York were victorious 1-4 to 1-1 and advanced to the final against Kinawley. Next day the final was played in Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada and once again New York had a huge following. However, it was not to be their day as Kinawley won 1-4 to 0-2.

Back row L to R: R. O’Reilly, K. Traynor, M. Moore, T. Santini, N. Diminno, N. Brophy, A. McGovern, K. McEvoy, A. Callery, C. Hynes, N. Kilkenny, T. Daly, B. Mulligan, K. Shea, A. Holland
Front row L to R: M. Boyle, C. Brown, D. McGurk, J. Levine, N. McEneaney, M. Hynes, A. McGlade, K. Holland, L. O’Sullivan, C. Traynor, K. McArdle, B. Tierney

Following the successful Feile trip it was off to the “Windy City” of Chicago for the CYC Tournament. This year saw New York Ladies with teams entered in the U-10, U-12, 2 U-14’s and U-16 teams with Rockland entering U-10, U-12, U-14 & U-16. New York and Rockland combined in the U-8 & U-18 divisions. The U-8’s coached by Annmarie Kelly and Ricky Brown were defeated by Boston by a score of 2-1 to 0-1. Neither of the U-10 teams coached by Ger Lavery, Noreen O’Brien and Pauline Coll reached their final. In the U-12’s it was an all New York final with the city girls coached by Linda McKeon and Allison Traynor winning 0-3 to 0-1. The U-14’s coached by Rosie O’Reilly and Kieran Traynor defeated Chicago 2-7 to 1-3. The U-16’s coached by Louise Fox, Donna Quinn and Teresa Bowden defeated a Chicago/San Fran/Philadelphia combination by a score of 1-18 to 2-6. The U-18’s drew with San Francisco 3-11 to 4-8 but the game was awarded to San Francisco on an apparent aggregate score.

Rockland held their first Gaelic 4 Girls blitz in mid-October ’07 and this was followed by one in New York at the end of October. There were also many competitive games between New York and Rockland throughout the season.

The round up to this year’s activities was the annual awards which were held in Danny Mac’s. They are as follows: U-8 Lauren Rodican, U-10 Niamh Fitzpatrick, U-12 Tara Flanagan, U-14 Christina Brown and Feile MVP Molly Boyle, U-16 Kayla Crowe and U-18 Bridget Bennett.

Preparations are currently under way for Feile 2008 which will be in County Cavan on July 4th, 5th & 6th. Also in 2008 New York Under-16’s will travel to County Waterford for an intensive week of training and matches. The Cúl Camps will be held in Gaelic Park beginning July 7th through July 11th. Registration details to follow shortly. CYC will take place in Philadelphia on July 25th, 26th and 27th and a record number of girls are expected to participate in the competition.

Youth Chairperson: Vice Chairperson: Secretary: Registrar: Asst. Registrar: Treasurer: Schedule: Child Protection: Development Officer: P.R.O.:

Nollaig Cleary Geraldine Lavery Caroline C. Bogue Mary Tierney Geraldine Rodican Anne McCormack Linda McKeon & Joe McGirl Mary Murphy Mary Murphy & Joe McGirl Noreen O’Brien

For any additional information contact info@nyladiesgaa.com

Registration

To register for Gaelic 4 Girls you must be between the ages of 6 to 18. Registration takes place in March at the Aisling Irish Community Center. Requirements for registration are a copy of your birth certificate, (3) passport photographs (new registrants) and a completed registration/medical release form and copy of medical insurance card. For registration form click here.