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Taking the Fields of Glory: Midwest and National Championships Ramp up the Pressure

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Vincent Beach Pic


Taking the Field of Glory: GAA Monthly
Midwest Gaelic Athletic Association
By Vincent Beach

Midwest Results 

June 18 – Buffalo hosted Pittsburgh for a football double header. The Celtics and Banshees both won over the Fenians’ teams.Cleveland extracted revenge on Detroit when they hosted, winning out 3-15 to 2-6. 

The game started slow, until Cleveland’s Dan “Murzy” Murray and the Tyrone Tiger, Rhys Quinn, heated up swinging scores over and under the bar. In Ladies Football, the Fenians host the Banshees.

On June 25, Akron hosted the first hurling blitz of the Midwest season.  n order of play, Cleveland  beat Akron (23-11), Pittsburgh beat Buffalo Fenians, and Roc City closed out the day with a win over Akron. 

Na Fianna Man of the Match, Fergus Gould
Na Fianna Man of the Match, Fergus Goul

Meanwhile over in Pittsburgh, the Banshees bested the Buffalo Ladies in football.  July 2 – The Cleveland ladies and Pittsburgh ladies partook in a double header starting with the Banshees winning in football.  The second battle was a back-and-forth game of camogie. In the first camogie match held in the Midwest in many years, the Na Loachra club and the Cleveland Saints tied (4-6 to 5-3, respectively). 

Round two will be in Pittsburgh on July 23rd.  July 9 – The Buffalo Hurling Blitz was played along the banks of the Niagara River at Gratwick Waterfront Park (North Tonawanda, NY).  The hosting Fenians hurled against the visiting Saints and held them relatively quiet in the second half.  The final tally was Cleveland 3-10 to Buffalo’s 1-2. 

The Buffalo and Cleveland ladies then took the pitch in a football rematch. After tasty scores from both clubs, the Lady Saints won the day.

Yi Want scores for the Saints versus Na Laochra
Yi Want scores for the Saints versus Na Laochra

The third and fourth games were back to the hurling. Pittsburgh Pucas traveled up to meet the Roc City Gaelic club. The Pucas were able to put up 7-16 to Rochester’s 1-2. The Fenians were then back on the pitch for the final game, as is the blitz format for this season where the home team plays two games.

They faced a light-sided Akron Celtic Guards who were forced to forfeit (1-0 win for Buffalo).    July 10 – It was a quick turn-around for the Fenians when they engaged in the Battle of Buffalo with Na Fianna, again at Gratwick Park.  The reigning Jnr D USGAA champions, Na Fianna, stuck to their winning ways with a final score of 2-13 to 2-0. 

Upcoming Gaelic Sports Matches

Remember, the Midwest Finals are being hosted by Roc City Gaelic (Rochester, NY) on August 6th  and 7th.  The Divisional Finals will determine who goes on the USGAA Finals on August 19-21 in Chicago. 

Midwest Memory

This month’s history corner tidbit is brought to us by Howard Elbert of Pittsburgh GAA, on the topic of all-star teams in the division.  Howard writes, “There was a Midwest All Star team assembled for the 1989 North American County Board Finals held at St. Mary’s Catholic School, Berea (Cleveland), Ohio.  They were entered at the intermediate level as there were no junior levels at that time.  There was also no ladies football at the time. 

The all-stars came from St. Pat’s, the Celtics, and the JFK’s.  St. Jarlath’s was ineligible to contribute members since they were divisional representatives.”  To backcheck or read more history, check out the USGAA’s archives:  https://usgaa.org/historical-documents-page/

Cleveland Youth Sports 

Good luck to the Cleveland Youth GAA players who will be joined by a handful of Detroit and Buffalo youth for the Continental Youth Championships held at Gaelic Park, Chicago from July 28-31. Teams are set for the U9s (coed), U11s (coed), U13 boy, U13 girls, and U15 boys.  After CYC’s, the youth program is looking to shift from football to hurling. For more info on the youth program, contact [email protected]

Go raibh míle maith agaibh

(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. 

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. 

Follow @ClevelandGaelic on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for the 2022 activities for Men, Women, and Youth.  Or visit ClevelandGAA.com.

*Vincent Thomas Francis Xavier Beach is a proud Greater Clevelander and emigrant of Michigan.  He joined the St. Pat’s Gaelic Football Club in 1999 and, with much help, is the current caretaker of the Cleveland GAA.  His Irish is a cross of dialects from the University of Cincinnati and An Cheathrú Rua.  With his wife, Michelle, he enjoys watching time absolutely fly by as their children, Ambrose (13), Bernadette (11), and Cedric (8), grow.  His other hustles are coaching CYO basketball at St. Mary of Berea, coaching soccer in Olmsted TWP, teaching Construction Management at CWRU, and laying down some engineering skills on local water/wastewater projects.

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