Gaelic football excels at St. Joe’s
Gaelic football, long a popular game in Europe, made its American collegiate debut in a 2012 game between St. Joe’s and Boston College. Now, six years later, the St. Joe’s Gaelic football team is continuing that tradition.
Gaelic football was first recognized as a club team in 2011. The team’s head coach Brendan Feeney was around for the start of it when he went to St. Joe’s before leaving school his sophomore year to manage technology at Susquehanna International Group. It was all started by Brian Mahoney in 2011.
“I really took the reins my freshman year,” Feeney said.
Feeney has been playing the game his entire life and brought the sport to St. Joe’s by getting his friends to play.
The game is played on Sweeney Field with a round, leather ball similar to a football. Players can hold onto the ball for four steps until they have to either kick it, pass it or bounce it in order to keep carrying it. If the ball goes into the goal, it is worth three points and if it goes into the field goal above the goal, the team earns one point.
Soccer and football are similar to the Irish sport, which is why it draws the interest of students like freshman and first-year player Curtis Tokach.
“I found Gaelic football on the St. Joe’s club sports page,” Tokach said. “I played soccer in high school, and I thought it looked interesting and wanted to try something new to meet some new people.”
According to Feeney, four years ago, about nine people would show up to each practice, but today, each practice has a turnout of around 35 players. The team doesn’t make cuts at tryouts, but Feeney hopes for there to be enough turnout and talent in the future to do so.
The existence of the club is dependent on a decent turnout, as according to Feeney, team members pay dues, so the more club members there are, the more funds there are to send them to tournaments.
Fundraisers offset costs for the team, and they also put thought into recruiting in spaces such as the activities fair, where they caught the attention of freshman Adam Werner.
“I played soccer and basketball in high school, and Gaelic football had a great pitch at the activities fair,” Werner said. “It seemed like a good bunch of guys, so I got involved. At first, the game is really confusing, but you get a hang of it really quickly.”
Gaelic football isn’t a sport exclusive to the collegiate level. Philadelphia is home to a variety of youth and adult club teams. It is also a popular past time in New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco despite its obscurity.
“The only way to really grasp it is to try it,” Feeney said.
Because the sport isn’t popular with colleges in the area as of now, the team has to travel to play their games. This spring, they will have tournaments at the University of Connecticut and Boston College. They will also play at home. There is a lack of teams in the National Collegiate Gaelic Athletic Association, so teams play in tournaments rather than single games to make their trips worthwhile.
St. Joe’s Gaelic football practices in the fall, but it’s too cold for the season to actually take off until the spring.
The team will travel to nationals in Colorado on May 19, where they will play against teams across the nation who are looking to grow the sport known as “the original beautiful game.”
