GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 17 – January 10, 2015 | Page 14

round in June and saw hosts the Austin Celtic Cowboys
defeat rivals Dallas in a thriller. In the first Ladies Texas
Championship it was the Dallas Fionn MacCumhaill’s
side that this time defeated the hosts. This championship
is proving popular with American players and is set to
grow anew this year.
Another new area that is flourishing as regards hurling,
is the Southeast. New clubs are sprouting up on a regular
basis in the south with locals falling in love with the ancient game. Founded in 2012 by an American and Irish
immigrant, Charleston Hurling Club in South Carolina
has flourished and began a three team league this Fall with
Darragh Doran Real Estate (DDRE) taking the first title.

Jerry Hess Photography.

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One day tournaments in both hurling and football take
place through summer and fall in cities such as Columbia, Nashville, Orlando, Greenville, Atlanta, and Charlotte.
Nashville also have started a Hurling League. Charleston
will host Southeast teams at the Holy City Cup on April 26.
Other cities like Denver, Seattle, Pittsburg, Philadelphia,
to name but a few, also have extensive season activity.
Add in the National Collegiate GAA hurling and football tournaments in San Francisco, the Midwest and in
the fledgling East and South, and one gets a sense of the
upward curve of Gaelic Sports in America. The National
Collegiate GAA Championships (NCGAA) were held in
New York last May, an event that
started with hurling back in 2011.
Three university teams participated at this event over the past number of years, Cal Berkeley, Indiana
University and last year’s hosts Purdue University. With a boost in colleges taking up hurling and football
the number of teams last year skyrocketed to 12 overall with seven in
hurling and five new teams for the
inaugural foo