Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
The Arabian Celts Gaelic football club is urging women to join the ranks of its popular squad to raise awareness and further develop the sport in the kingdom.
A special crossover exhibition was staged recently at the Bahrain Rugby Football Club (BRFC) in Janibaya, where the island’s soccer ladies were invited to try the alternative fast-paced sport first hand.
The aim of the event was to encourage new players to sign up before the start of the first round of the Middle East Gaelic League in Bahrain on October 24.
Tom Hanratty, the Arabian Celts team manager and coach, said: “We are always on the lookout for new players, particularly at the start of a new season.
“We probably got a bit complacent last year because we had a strong core of players who had been around for a couple of years but now that some of them have additional family commitments, or have moved on to pastures new, it is a great opportunity for us to bring in some new blood.
“At the same time, the Arabian Celts have a strong tradition of introducing Gaelic games to people who have probably never even heard of them before so we are striving to continue that.”
The Bahrain RFC Ladies football team, Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain members and the Naomh Alee Riyadh GAA ladies attended the exhibition and were given a 10-aside introduction to Gaelic football.
Hanratty said: “The cross-over game was a huge success. Thanks to some lax refereeing and the natural ability of the teams, the soccer players impressively found their feet against the Celts ladies in what was an entertaining and good-spirited game, finished off with a period of the more commonly known code of the game.
“The new players seemed to enjoy the run-out and the hope for Bahrain RFC is that both the ladies football team and the Arabian Celts ladies can work together for the benefit of both sides.”
Gaelic Football can best be described as a mixture of soccer, rugby and volleyball. Ironically, the ball resembles a volley ball and the players score by bouncing it on the turf, throwing it, kicking it and even running with it.
The game is played on a pitch approximately 137m long and 82m wide. The goalposts are the same shape as the ones on a rugby pitch, with the crossbar lower than in rugby and slightly higher than in soccer.
Each team consists of 15 players including one goalkeeper, three full-backs, three half-backs, two midfielders, three half-forwards and three full-forwards.
According to Arabian Celts ladies team captain, Naomi Murphy, soccer players can easily make the transition into Gaelic Football.
She said: “We have already started recruiting new ladies, a former rugby player and another lady that wants to enjoy the sport from a social aspect.
“Gaelic Football is a great way to stay fit, network, assist in fundraising and socialise. The girls have already started coming to our trainings on Sundays from 7.30pm, Tuesdays at 6.30pm and Friday mornings at 10.30am.”
The Arabian Celts Gulf Athletic Association Club, which includes four men’s teams and two ladies squads, was launched in 2008 after the amalgamation of the Bahrain Irish and the Naomh Abdullah Dhahran clubs.
The club has a rich history which has seen it grow from humble beginnings to being one of the main contributors to the growth of the sport in the Gulf region.
The Arabian Celts won an All Asia title in 2009 when the club’s first team travelled to Bangkok, Thailand, to play in the Asian Gaelic Games and later that same year the club’s second team, the Arabian Legends, won the Middle East Shield at the Middle East Gaelic Games. In 2011, the Arabian Celts All Stars were crowned Middle East Bowl Champions.
As well as encouraging ladies to sign up, the club has also set up a juvenile section with an U8, U10, U12 and U14 programme for both boys and girls with the hope of instilling an appreciation for the game at an early age.
The club was awarded the prestigious title of Club of the Year at the 2011 Asian Gaelic Games in Seoul, Korea, and the ladies team, which consists of 15 to 20 players, currently ranks third in the league.
* If any ladies, aged 15 and over, are interested in playing either Gaelic football or soccer (or both), or are simply keen on trying it out, email hanratty.tom@gmail.com
