GAA Survives in Any Climate
Opinion

 A few months ago I spent a week in Calgary where the temperature was -20Å Celsius. It’s kind of a long story why I went up the frozen wastes of Alberta in the middle of January, but let’s just say I had to leave the US to get my paperwork in order and stay legal in status with US immigration.
Before going, I did a quick search on the web and discovered the Calgary Chieftains gaelic football team. I got in touch with them and when I got there we went out for a few pints. Here I was in the middle of a strange town, not knowing a single sinner in the whole place, and I was able to get a bit of company and make new friends thanks to GAA connections. Great stuff.

This reminds me of something that Joe McDonagh mentioned at our awards show here in San Francisco last year, how the GAA abroad has always functioned as more than just a sports body. It was a social club, a labour clearing house, and a point of contact for the Irish community. If any Irish person needed work, a place to live, friends to go for a drink with in a strange town, or anything else, the GAA was the network that people got into and it remains so to this day.

From the air at that time of year, Calgary looks like a frozen settlement planted in the middle of a vast snow-encrusted plain. The sight of the place in winter makes you wonder why anybody in their right mind would build a city that far north. When you get into the city centre you discover the “+15” walkway system, an enclosed network of elevated corridors and bridges that connect the malls, hotel lobbies, and office building lobbies one level above the street. It lets you walk around the entire city centre in shirt-sleeve comfort even if it’s blowing a gale-force blizzard outside, like a huge shopping center that goes on for miles.

Farther to the north there are other cities like Edmonton and Fort McMurray. Fort McMurray is a remote outpost of humanity not far from the arctic circle, and any living thing that survives up there is made of strong stuff.

The very existence of the more northern cities in Canada is a testament to the endurance and ingenuity of man. Even in the most inhospitable of terrain and in a climate that would kill anything that stepped outside without adequate preparation, life goes on. In this sort of environment you’d expect the chances of survival of the outdoor activities of the GAA to range from slim to zero. But you’d be wrong. Even the Calgary Chieftains are not the most northerly club in the world. I learned from my new Calgarian friends about a man called Ronan Deane from Cork who once played for his county and then the Chieftains when he moved to Calgary. He later managed to get another club going up in Fort McMurray thanks to a handful of Irish workers working in the oil industry there. Apparently he handed out his contact details to anyone who could walk during the St Patrick’s Day parade, and a week later he had fifteen lads lined up for training. His enthusiasm rubbed off on people. He later went to Vancouver where he injected his enthusiasm into the GAA scene there.

I was so fascinated by his story that I got in touch with him and asked how he pulled it off. “Basically,” he said, “you have to look at the positives rather than the negatives, you have to allow yourself to step away from all the GAA norms, and then you have to be absolutely focused.” In a sub Arctic oil town like Fort McMurray with a population of 64,000, (30,000 of whom are transient) many would expect the odds to be stacked against anyone wanting to start a GAA club.

Mr Deane tells me that he has heard lads telling him that to get a club going you need everything from a regulation-sized field and changing rooms, to a sponsor to pay for jerseys and give work to the players. “All you really need,” he says, “is a field, a ball, and a strong focus. You’ve got to set a time and place for training. Be there ahead of time. Ask everyone you meet will they play. Argue with them when they say they're not interested. Take phone numbers of people that you've convinced to play and call them back. Bully people from already-in-place teams to support your initiative. Go to the schools.” It may sound far-fetched to some, but the results speak for themselves and the approach works.

For all the problems we face in our own divisions, we should remember that we are very lucky to have such a thriving GAA scene in places like the San Francisco Bay Area. When having our internal disagreements we should maybe spare a thought for the isolated GAA units elsewhere on this huge continent who would give an arm and a leg to have our climate, our Irish population, and to have as many opposing teams to play with as we take for granted here.

From the sweltering desert heat of San Diego to the frozen arctic wastes of Canada, the GAA has people all over this continent who overcome seemingly impossible odds to keep the games and traditions alive for the benefit of the Irish diaspora no matter how few in number they are. I, for one, tip my hat to them.

©2005.

[This is an opinion column and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Western Division Board. Disagree or agree with it? Discuss it on the messageboard!]