“But, of course, the GAA can't come into places like Brittany and Galicia, where you also have a strong Celtic culture, and dictate how it should be done. You had seven or eight hundred players turning up, the weather was glorious, and we had a great level of football. “It was in the rugby stadium in Vannes which was a big deal for us. They had a pipe band and all these kids teams walked out before the adult teams. “In 2019 the Mayor of Vannes officially opened our Finals. “You don't have to convince anybody, they're all up for it. “Broadcasting Gaelic Gports in Brittany is an easy job to do,” says O’Rourke. What makes Gaelic Games such an easy sell in Brittany is the fact that Bretons identify themselves as Celts.Ĭulturally they feel a really natural affinity with Ireland, and Gaelic Games offer a perfect sporting outlet for them to express this Celtic identity. “That had a big impact as of course did the creation of the French federation in 2004 and the Breton League in 2008 because everyone’s objective was the same – we have to work on youth development.”īrittany players celebrate in Croke Park after winning the Shield competition at the John West 2018 Féile Peile na nÓg. “Then there were reforms in the education system and from 2011 you could effectively do Gaelic Football as part of your Leaving Cert exams. So that was the first success we had tapping into the potential of youth development. “From 2004 I went into this Lycée twice a week on a Tuesday and a Friday coaching the pupils there and five or six of the girls I coached who were aged 16 or 17 joined the first ladies football team of Rennes. “He was a secondary school teacher in the international sector of secondary schools and successfully advocated Gaelic Football as a way of promoting bilingualism through sport and school exchanges. “They were in touch regularly with a teacher by the name of Jean Paul Laborde who was very instrumental in getting Gaelic onto the schools curriculum in Brittany. “When I joined in 2003 the club was already quite forward thinking in terms of having a long-term strategy,” she explains. Gaelic Games are already long established in many secondary schools in the region, thanks in no small part to O’Rourke herself. Just this week an agreement was inked with the education authorities that will see gaelic football coached in primary schools across Brittany which is another huge step forward. Now there are nine clubs in Brittany and 25 in total in France.īrittany is very much the beating heart of Gaelic Games in Europe, and what’s most remarkable about how the game has blossomed there is that it has been so organic, with key to this growth the success in establishing gaelic football as part of the sporting curriculum in schools. When she moved to France in 2003 there were just two GAA clubs in Brittany and one in Paris. Now also Vice-Chairperson of Gaelic Games Europe, she has been a central figure in the remarkable rise of Gaelic Games in Brittany and across France. 18 years ago, Wicklow woman Anna Marie O’Rourke joined the Rennes Ar Gwazi Gouez GAA club in Brittany.Īr Gwazi Gouez translates as The Wild Geese, and it’s a testament to the impact O’Rourke has made in her time there that she’s known as ‘Mama Gouez’, the Mother Goose of the club.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |