St. Joe’s Gaelic Football Team prepares for upcoming season
The Saint Joseph’s University Gaelic Football club team is currently preparing for their spring tournaments and is excited for the matches to come.
As the first officially recognized collegiate Gaelic football team in the United States, the St. Joe’s team puts an incredibly strong emphasis on team unity and ambition. The team has tournaments and matches in both the fall and spring semesters.
St. Joe’s Gaelic Football club’s mission is found on the club website: “We, and many before us, have put in copious amounts of work that have made this club a reality. Our goal is to not only maintain this team, but develop it. We hope that Saint Joseph’s University will not only be the first, but will also be the best.”
The squad has a dedicated fan base, but other St. Joe’s community members do not know what the sport entails. Junior Eugene Ramos is a former player and current super-fan of the Gaelic team.
“[It is] a very technical, fun sport,” he said. “It incorporates the beauty of soccer and the physicality of rugby, and the technical aspect of basketball.”
Gaelic football is an Irish team sport that is played with two teams of 15 players on a grass field. Players can score by kicking or punching the spherical leather ball into the other team’s goal or between two upright posts and over a crossbar located eight feet in the air. The games tend to last for about an hour.
St. Joe’s is known for its Division I athletics, something in which the school, alumni, fans, students and all people involved find pride.. As for current students, however, club sports are an excellent opportunity to compete.
The Gaelic Football team’s Vice President, junior Sean Rigau, explains his club team experience as “Serious, but we also love to have fun. Compared to DI programs for other sports, we are a lot more laid back.” Ramos said that his favorite part about the St. Joe’s team is “the strong sense of camaraderie,” which is why he loves following their season.
The club team has about 35-40 players, consisting mostly of freshman and sophomores. Many of the team members were formerly on soccer, lacrosse, football and hockey teams, according to Rigau.
“Most [players] use experience from their previous athletic commitments to the team when it comes to playing,” Rigau said.
Interestingly, the team is student-run, meaning there is no coach.
“There has been a mutual growth and learning with the entire team,” Rigau said. “Over the years the team has become a true brotherhood supporting its players through school and life. The boys on this year’s team have really become a family.”
Rigau is excited and optimistic about the coming season.
“We will do very well this year,” he said. “We are already undefeated in all competitions thus far, but the championship over the summer will be the true test.”
