Fáilte (welcome) to all. The Gaelic Athletic Association is Ireland’s largest sporting organization and a bit of home for the Irish abroad here in the US of A. Beyond sports, the Association also promotes Irish music, song and dance, and the Irish language as an integral part of its objectives. Cleveland GAA is open to all who want to play competitive sports, meet new people, and join an athletic, fitness-minded club for all ages.
USGAA News
The USGAA all-county junior men’s football team battled the current back-to-back champions, New York, in the quarter final match on June 14th. It was the first time an All-Ireland Junior quarter final was played in the U.S., as New York’s Gaelic Park (Bronx, Manhattan University) played host. The back-and-forth match saw only a point between the sides at halftime; USGAA 1-4 (7), NYGAA 1-3 (6). In exciting fashion, the match went to overtime, but our USGAA fell to NYGAA by a final score of 2-7 (13) to 2-8 (14).
USGAA Final Draw
For the stateside clubs, the USGAA Finals draw also took place on June 14th. Receiving automatic bids (based on being the only club available at the specific grade from the division) were: Pittsburgh Celtics (Men’s Junior A Football), Cleveland St. Pat’s – St. Jarlath’s (Men’s Junior B Football), Pittsburgh Banshees (Ladies’ Intermediate Football), Roc City (Junior C Hurling), Pittsburgh Na Laochra (Junior A Camogie), and Cleveland St. Pat’s – St. Jarlath’s (Junior B Camogie).
The Midwest holds additional slots for Men’s Junior C and Junior D football, Ladies’ Junior C Football, Junior B Hurling, and Junior D Hurling – those clubs will have to battle it out at the Midwest Finals to earn their spot. Reminder, the Midwest Finals will be in Buffalo on the August 2nd and 3rd weekend. This is the same weekend as the Buffalo Irish Festival (at River Fest Park).
Sports Results and Highlights
The Battle of Buffalo between the Fenians and Na Fianna was cancelled on May 3rd due to weather and awaits a reschedule date.
May 31st saw a slew of games in Albay, Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Rochester. The Roc City men traveled into Albany for a double header of football and hurling, while the Roc City ladies’ hosted Buffalo in football. Buffalo Na Fianna welcomed the Gaels of Syracuse in men’s football and tallied their first league win of the season.
In Cleveland, the Saints hosted Cincinnati for both men’s and ladies’ football. The Lady Saints won 12-24 (60) to 4-13 (25) and the men completed the sweep 2-16 (22) to 1-13 (16). The Detroit Wolfe Tones travelled down to Pittsburgh light, taking the forfeiture.
On June 7th, Akron hosted a hurling round robin with the Buffalo Fenians and Pittsburgh Pucas’ Junior D team. Buffalo Na Fiana traveled to Albany and tallied their second win with a final of twenty-two to ten.
And to finish the weekend, a hotly contested match took place down in Pittsburgh between the Banshees and the Saints in ladies’ football. The Clevelanders stunned the home crowd just before halftime with two goals to bring the match within a point, 3-9 (18) to 3-8 (17). The second half remained tight, but the veteran Banshees pulled ahead to finish 6-13 (31) to 5-14 (29).
On June 14th, the Fenians hosted their GAA Day have 3 codes take the field against Roc City. Roc City was looking to sweep having beaten the hurlers 3-12 (21) to 1-2 (5) and the lady footballers 2-8 (14) to 2-1 (7), but the Fenian men secured the final match of football 1-12 (15) to 0-3 (3). St. Pat’s – St. Jarlath’s hosted the Detroit Wolfe Tones and Detroit St. Anne’s in football. The Cleveland men racked their second victory of the season with a final of 1-19 (22) to 1-4 (7). And the Lady Saints were also victorious over St. Anne’s. It nearly sounds like a CYO weekend.
Cleveland St. Pat’s – St. Jarlath’s GAA
Cleveland’s Memorial 7’s, a men’s, and ladies’ Gaelic football tournament, was held on May 17th with great success. This year was in memory of Martin Lowry.
The event brought teams from across the Midwest and Canada and over 30 matches were played. St. Mike’s of Toronto won the men’s football while Chicago Erin’s Rovers won the ladies’ side.
The tournament also celebrated Dan Murray and his contribution to Cleveland GAA’s success in recent years. Dan coached the ladies’ team from re-inception to a national champion in 2022. Likewise, he pushed on the fitness program for the club and led the men’s football team to win the national championship as a captain. Go raibh míle maith agat, Coach and Captain Dan!
The hoopla of the weekend was finished on Saturday as the youth took the fields on Sunday for the Great Lakes Tournament Series. Once again, over 100 youth players competed in thirty-six matches of football and hurling.
The tournament was a huge success thanks to our Canadian friends who traveled down from two clubs, Toronto Chieftains and Toronto Michael Davitt’s. They were joined by the Midwest’s Akron Youth GAA, Detroit Harps, Syracuse Youth GAA, and the hosts, Cleveland.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh!
We want to express our thanks to the many sponsors, supporters, and the West Side Irish American Club. The annual Night at the Races on May 10th was the most successful and fun night yet. Our youth fundraiser at Il Rione was a blast and allows our up-and-coming GAAers to have equipment, sponsor indoor training sessions, and travel to several tournaments. Thanks, y’all, to our readers and supporters. We need your help and involvement but would most like to share the fun of Irish sport and Cleveland community with you. Consider getting involved at any level.
Follow @ClevelandGaelic on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for the 2024 activities for Men, Women, and Youth, or visit ClevelandGAA.com. Email ClevelandGAA@gmail.com.
