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The Arabian Celts - the newest Gaelic Football Club to be established in the Middle East - have flown out from Bahrain to compete in the Asian Gaelic Games taking place in Penang, Malaysia.
The Arabian Celts came into being after two clubs - Naomh Abdullah Dhahran from Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province and the Bahrain-Irish based here in the kingdom - agreed to establish a new club which would affiliate with the Asian County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), the world body for Gaelic Games.
This is the first time that a team from this part of the Gulf is competing at the Asian Gaelic Games. The event has been described as the equivalent of soccer's Champions League with the top teams from each country competing against each other to determine who the best team in the region is.
There are more than 40 teams playing at this year's Asian Gaelic Games in Penang with representatives from around the Gulf, China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and North and South Korea.
The history of Gaelic Games in the Middle East dates back to St Patrick's Day 1994 when a match was played between employees of SA Kent and Aramco in Riyadh. By October 1994 the first GAA club in the Middle East - Naomh Abdullah Dhahran - was formed in Saudi Arabia and over the next 12 months clubs had also been set up in Riyadh, Dubai and in Bahrain with the Bahrain-Irish being formed in November 1995.
Other clubs were to follow in Abu Dhabi, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait in the years that followed. These teams compete in the annual Gaelic Football tournament held annually in Bahrain. The tournament is in its 15th year and will take place on November 21 at the Bahrain Rugby Club - it is the longest running Gaelic Football tournament in the Middle East.
If you are interested in learning the skills of Gaelic Football or just want to improve on your fitness levels and have a bit of fun come and join the Arabian Celts for training at the Bahrain Rugby Club.
All nationalities are welcome and training takes place twice a week on Sunday at 7.15pm and on Thursday at 6.30pm. Training will re-commence on Sunday after the team returns from Penang.
FACT FILE
Gaelic Football can be described as a mixture of soccer, rugby and basketball, although it predates all of those games. It is a field game, which has evolved along similar lines as Australian Rules Football.
Unlike Australian Rules, Gaelic Football is played with a round ball, which is slightly smaller, and heavier than a soccer ball.
The playing area is a rectangular field, approximately 137 metres long and 82 m wide. The goalposts are the same basic shape as rugby goalposts but wider apart and the crossbar is lower than in rugby.
The ball can be carried in the hand for a distance of four steps and can be kicked or "hand-passed", a striking motion with the hand or fist. After every four steps the ball must either be bounced or "solo-ed", an action of dropping the ball onto the foot and kicking it back into the hand. You may not bounce the ball twice in a row.
There are two scoring methods:
A Point: When the ball goes over the crossbar and between the uprights it is worth one point. This is accomplished by either kicking or hand-passing.
A Goal: When the ball is put under the crossbar and between the uprights, it is worth three points. This can be accomplished when the ball is in the attacker's possession and control, he may score a goal by kicking the ball or, if the ball is in the air, and in nobody's possession, the attacker may punch it directly into the net, much like a spike in volleyball.
