The SA Gaels team who won the Mens Social Plate competition at the recent Gulf Games in Dubai. (Photo courtesy of SA Gaels)
New club, South Africa Gaels, with just a year’s experience of playing Gaelic football under their belts, performed extremely well at the recent international football tournament, the Gulf Gaelic Games 2011 in Dubai.
The men’s team won the Plate in the Mens Social event while the Ladies team got to the semi final of the Ladies B Cup.
The Gaels pull players from the Pretoria and Johannesburg region and was formed in 2010 by English native Paul Carpenter – who initially started a club in Zimbabwe (still developing) – and also by Tyrone native, Hannah Oguz.
Paul learned Gaelic football while with the Singapore Lions and Hannah, a sports scientist at the University of Pretoria , has also played abroad in Sydney.
The SA Ladies team who got to the semi-final of the Ladies B Cup at Dubai. (Photo courtesy of SA Gaels).
The club trains at the state-of-the-art facility at the University of Pretoria and GaelicSportsCast recently spoke to Paul and Hannah, as well as club player and Dublin native Niall Morris, about the experience of playing at the club’s first major tournament.
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I just learned Gaelic football a few weeks ago and it is so interesting, easy to play and very nice!