Midwest Gaelic Athletic Association
USGAA News
The USGAA County Junior A men’s football team held an exhibition match against the Queens University college team at the Boston Irish Cultural Center on Saturday, June 15th, in preparation for the Junior All-Ireland championship. Queens also brought their ladies’ team, who played a USGAA select team.
The county team went on to narrow defeat in the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship semi-final at the hands of London. The final score 1-8 (11) to 0-10 (10) at the GAA National Centre of Excellence in Abbotstown, Dublin, on July 12th. USGAA came back from a five-point deficit at halftime to test the All-Britain champions but fell short on the day. Had they won, it would have been an all-American final as New York awaited the winners. Overall, the experience was a brilliant first step for the USGAA in terms of competition, management, and organization. Up the Lads and may many more follow.
The USGAA Finals were next up on the docket and occurred in San Francisco from August 16th through August 18th. Games were spread across two different sites about twenty to thirty minutes apart in Balboa Park and the familiar Treasure Island. Over 110 teams participated. We will have the results of those matches in the coming month, including our own Midwest GAA results.
Of special note are the new memorial cups for 2024. Senior Men’s Football is in memory of Jack Courtney of Castlegregory, Kerry (Dingle) and Buffalo, New York. Jack was the first Chairperson of the North American County Board established in 1959. Junior A Ladies’ Football is in memory of Nicole Killigrew of San Francisco. Intermediate Camogie is in memory of Bridie Joyce (Athenry, Galway and Boston). Junior B Camogie is in memory of Lori Kiely of Philadelphia. Generally, cups are named for a term of four years, with different cup memorials coming to fruition in different years. For more information on the new cups for 2024, visit usgaafinals.com.
Midwest News – The Year in Review
The 2024 Midwest season kicked off for most clubs with the Cleveland Memorial 7-a-Side tournament, headed up by Jim Coyne and the CLE GAA army of volunteers on Saturday, May 18th, at the West Side Irish American Club. Thirty games of men’s and ladies’ Gaelic football were played on the day, with the Cleveland St. Pat’s-St. Jarlath’s men
defeating Chicago McBride’s and the newcomer, Toronto, walking away with the cups.
In Midwest league play, Rochester hosted the Albany Rebels in both men’s football and hurling just a week prior on May 11th, while over in Buffalo, the Fenians hosted Pittsburgh Pucas’ second team in hurling and Syracuse in men’s football.
It was then off to the races for clubs as games were held each weekend leading up to the Midwest Finals. The regular season final tally saw the Detroit Wolfetones win the men’s football west pool and the Pittsburgh Banshees win the ladies’ football pool. This year, the hurling regular season was won by Cleveland St. Pat’s – St. Jarlath’s, and the camogie was won by Pittsburgh Na Laochra.
The top finishes did not always translate into top seeds for the Midwest finals, as a random draw was held for a couple of the competitions. With no single club bidding to host the Midwest Finals, the task was left to the Midwest Board. Advocating for a central location and local support, Erie, PA was selected for the August 10-11 games. Overall, 21 games were played, including several shield matches.
It is always the goal of the Midwest board and the clubs to have the divisional finals be an experience for all clubs – including those who do not travel for the USGAA finals. As such, in addition to several championship matches for the knock-out tournament style, consolation games were held to ensure teams received more than one match. With much credit to the teams, most of those shield matches were held.
Taking away top honors were:
- Pittsburgh Celtics – Men’s Football Junior Champions
- Pittsburgh Banshees – Ladies’ Football Champions
- Cleveland St. Pat’s – St. Jarlath’s – Hurling Champions
- Pittsburgh Na Laochra – Camogie Champions
- Albany – Hurling Junior Development Champions
- Roc City – Ladies’ Football Junior Development Champions
- CLG Cincinnati – Men’s Football Junior Development Champions
Heading on to the USGAA Finals are:
- Buffalo Fenians (Jnr. D Hurling and Football)
- Cleveland St. Pat’s – St. Jarlath’s (Jnr B Football, Jnr. C Hurling, and Jnr. B Camogie)
- Detroit Wolfetones (Jnr. B Football)
- Pittsburgh Banshees (Intermediate Ladies’ Football)
- Pittsburgh Na Laochra (Jnr. A Camogie)
- Pittsburgh Pucas (Jnr. B Hurling)
Cleveland and Midwest Youth
After the very successful Great Lakes Tournament (GLT) Cleveland Games (May 19th), Chicago hosted the next regional tournament on June 22. Leading the charge was Coach Michael Martin McNulty and the mighty U8’s of the Land, playing shoulder to shoulder with teams from the north and south sides of Chi-town.
After the June GLT games, youth clubs focused on the Continental Youth Championships (CYC’s) held in Canton, MA, at the Irish Cultural Center. Over 2,600 children participated in the four-day tournament of Gaelic games. The Midwest was well represented, helping to fill the ranks of our Great Lakes partner – Toronto Chieftains, at the u8 to u10 levels; our Pennsylvania cousins in Glenside for u12 hurling; and our ‘up the west’ compatriots in San Francisco for the u14 to u18 teams.
The Midwest and Cleveland led the u12C team with Toronto under the Great Lakes GAA banner – a first that speaks volumes to the GLT tournament series. Overall, 25 Midwest players took part in the largest GAA event outside of Ireland, including nineteen players from Cleveland. Several runner-up medals were won by our gang. The Midwest looks to increase their number of teams dramatically next year as the game will be held in Chicago.
Beyond the big CYC, the youth year continued with GLT-Toronto on August 17th and the upcoming GLT-Detroit on September 21st. We will have more updates in next month’s issue on those fronts, but the 2024 youth campaign will go down as a successful one, simply based on the number of meaningful games played by these youngsters.
Cleveland also saw their first representative in Ireland’s Feile nan Gael tournament – a u15 hurling tournament. Ambrose Beach joined the San Francisco squad, alongside fellow GLT-Toronto teammate Pierce Quail, to compete in several friendly matches in Clare, Cork, and Kilkenny before the tournament matches held in Wexford. The bucks played hard and competed well to represent the club and themselves in a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. Comhghairdeas leat, a mhac!
Cleveland St. Pat’s – St. Jarlath’s GAA
Thank you to all the supporters and sponsors this season. With your help, we created a wonderful, local, Irish cultural community and are sending three teams on to the national championships.
Interested in more? You can still join the social side of the club this post-season as the annual Golf Outing will be September 7th at Grey Hawk Golf Club (665 US Grant Street, LaGrange, OH). Registration for the scramble is available on the Clevelandgaa.com website.
Cleveland i gCuimhne (in Remembrance)
On June 2nd, Cleveland GAA lost a stalwart member in Joe Boyle. Originally hailing from Carrick, County Donegal, Joe made his way from Ellis Island to Cleveland in 1956, where he soon joined the St. Pat’s Gaelic Football team. He would go on to play and coach St. Pat’s for the next 30 years, including those lauded teams of the 1960s. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Boyle, Kitchen, and Martin families on the loss of a great man, brother, father, and grandfather. Ar dheas Dé go raibh a anam. (May his soul be at the right hand of God).
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 sports and the 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 2024 activities for Men, Women, and Youth, or visit ClevelandGAA.com. Email [email protected].
