More than 60 Gaelic football players will be competing for the Cayman Islands in the annual United States Gaelic Athletic Association finals tournament.
The massive group consists of two men’s and one women’s team who are set to compete on 15-17 Aug. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Cayman Islands’ top Gaelic players were selected for each team based on their performance in this year’s domestic Harneys Gaelic Football League season, which ran from January to June.
Their preparation period for the tournament included a thrice-weekly training camp through July and August at Ed Bush Field in West Bay, Cayman International School sports field and Truman Bodden Sports Complex.
This year’s US Gaelic Athletic Association tournament, featuring more than 100 teams, will see the three Cayman teams compete against the best Gaelic football clubs from across the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
The Cayman men’s A team will be returning to defend the Junior A title they won at last year’s finals in San Francisco, California. The men’s B team looks to reclaim its Junior D title last won in 2023 at the finals in Denver, Colorado.
As for the women’s team, the players are on the hunt to capture their first title, having sustained narrow defeats against eventual tournament winners in recent years.
Cathal McGrath, chairman of the Cayman Islands Gaelic Athletic Association Club, described the forthcoming tournament as a huge opportunity for the club.
“The USGAA Finals is our annual opportunity for the club to represent Cayman on an international stage. Our club is the largest GAA club across the Americas, with over 500 members in our club here in Cayman,” McGrath said.
“Each year, the teams from large cities across the USA marvel at how a small country like the Cayman Islands can have so many people playing the sport, and how we have so many players travelling to this tournament, particularly given the distance we are required to travel.”
The women’s chairperson, Sarah O’Dea, added, “Each year we travel to the USGAA Finals Tournament in hope more so than expectation, given the quality of teams we come up against in the USA, but we have managed to return with a cup for the last three years and hope to keep that run going this year.”
Niall Freeman and Kevin Falvey will coach the women’s team on the trip, while the men’s team will be coached by Freeman, David Brady and James Murphy.
Alan Kelly is captain of the men’s A team, Tom Clark leads the men’s B team, and Jovani Hessing captains the women’s team.
The men’s B team will be the first to play, facing St. Louis, Missouri, in the Junior D championship quarter-final at 11:45am Eastern Standard Time on Friday.
The women’s team will compete in the Junior B championship semi-final against the Austin Celtic Cowboys at 8:55am EST on Saturday.
The men’s A team will be the last to play, with the Junior A championship semi-final scheduled for 4pm EST on Saturday. The team’s opponent will be either Kevin Barry GFC of Philadelphia or the Pittsburgh Celtics.
All games will be livestreamed on the club’s Instagram page at CaymanGAA.
