GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 15 - December 5, 2014 | Page 8

are finding Gaelic sports (ad hoc discovery is everywhere).
Locals and even international expats are beginning to be
attracted by the sports appeal with social media, especially
You Tube showcasing the sports to a global audience as
never before. One of these international expats is English
native Paul Carpenter who found a love for Gaelic football
amongst an international oriented Singapore Lions GAA
club. When work took him to South Africa in 2010, he decided to bring the sport to the local community. Today
also, the past 5 years in particular, has seen the GAA become more pro-active in helping to stimulate Gaelic sports
growths
internationally
with coaching and referee
courses as well as financial
investment on a global, if as
yet, limited scale. South Africa is one such area of focus
but it is being led by those
on the ground and planning
is a key element in spreading the game throughout
the country.
Carpenter, co-founder of
the South Africa Gaels from
the Pretoria and Johannesburg regions, recognizes the
efforts from Ireland but there
is nothing ad hoc about his approach. Indeed, he is taking the
GAA ethos very much on-board.
“We are focusing through the help given to us by Croke
Park and the generous donation from the GAA to develop
a tiered system in South Africa that covers all the major
cities, and mirrors the club and county approach in Ireland,” he recently told Gaelic Sports World.
Goals have been set and signs of growth are evident.

8

PLAN OF ACTION
It takes will and effort to start a GAA club outside of Ireland.
But it takes even greater will and hard work to keep a club
going and to develop it for the future. Once the romance and
key personnel filter away from a club, the result usually means
the organization folds. Irish immigrant GAA clubs have existed in such states for decades with many on life support year
on year. If levels of immigration subside such ‘modelled’ clubs
usually fade away if solid plans for the future are not in place.
In South Africa a plan of action is in place.

Looking to take things to the next level in putting ‘local’
front and center of plans, the South African Gaelic Sports Association was formed in November of 2013 with a mission
for the development of Gaelic Sports in South Africa through
the rollout of the Grass Roots Development Programme. The
idea is to deliver a programme with the support of the GAA,
the Irish Government Department of Foreign Affairs and
sponsors. It is hoped that the project will set in motion the
enhancement of South Africa as the ‘largest non-Irish GAA
playing community outside of Ireland.”