Over the last four years, the number of young players in Britain who are members of the GAA has increased by 28%, to 4,593, reports RTE.
By the conclusion of the previous year, 1,975 young people in London had joined the GAA, a 20% growth over that time.
Although foreigners and people of Irish ancestry have historically participated in Gaelic games, more people without Irish ancestry are beginning to do so, reports RTE.
Most members are still first and second generation Irish, according to London GAA’s community development administrator, Cormac Duffy.
Nonetheless, more and more young people without any Irish heritage have joined in recent years, reports RTE.
“Clubs are realising now that they need to develop their own home-grown players. The volume of Irish people coming over to Britain isn’t what it was in the past. I think clubs are realising that in 10, 15, 20 years time they will need to develop their own players”, he explains, reports RTE.
He commended the GAA’s contribution to the development of Gaelic games in the United Kingdom.
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In London, there are youth teams at 14 out of 27 clubs. Fifty clubs in Britain have underage squads, reports RTE.
St. Joseph’s GAA club in Ealing, west London, is one club where more kids are participating.
Ann Marie McLoughlin is the deputy head teacher at Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School, a nearby secondary school, and a coach at St Joseph’s, reports RTE.
For the past 10 years, the school has included gaelic football in its physical education curriculum.
“Transferrable skills with football, rugby, and basketball” is how she described it as a sport, reports RTE.
The sport has been very popular at the school, according to Ms. McLoughlin, whose parents are from Ireland and who has previously played with London GAA. She also states that their “core aim is to ensure that children move on to clubs where they can engage in Gaelic football and move on and play with their county,” reports RTE.
Jaida, who also plays under-16s for St. Joseph’s GAA club, is one of their players. Later this year, she aims to play for the London squad.
“My mum’s from Italy and my dad’s from Brazil, I’ve decided to pick up Gaelic because it’s similar to football which I also do, but also because it’s a fun sport”, she explained, reports RTE.
Martin Fraser, the Irish Ambassador to Great Britain, was asked by the school to present their GAA teams.
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