GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 20 – February 22, 2015 | Page 13

“The games should be a fantastic experience for all involved
and I hope that everyone playing and watching enjoys this historical world GAA event. The effort put in by the people in the
Middle East County Board and clubs has been extraordinary
and the games could really put an emphasis on World GAA so
that people in Ireland can finally understand the phenomenal
growth of the games overseas and the hard work put in by everyone involved.”

AUSTRALASIA (Australia &

Equity was the guideline for selection as two players from each
state were chosen. The criteria followed was that at least 1 of
the 2 players from each State must be an Australian/N Zealand
citizen or permanent resident and have represented their State
at an Australasian Championships in women’s football. In the
case that if only 1 player is a citizen/permanent resident then
the other must have been registered in a State for a minimum
of 2 years and have represented their State in women’s football
at an Australasian Championships.

New Zealand) will bring one squad
to the games who will be a Ladies
Team taking part in the Ladies
World Cup.
This international GAA unit is another that covers a huge geographic
expanse of two countries and madeup of clubs from the various states
such as - New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, as well
New Zealand’s Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington areas. There are
some 64 GAA clubs in the region.

Australasia Ladies Team. (Photo: GAA World Games)

The annual Australasian GAA State Championship is the
show case event with 25-30 teams playing 15 a-side games
and is one of the most competitive and top tier GAA events
(in all codes) anywhere in the world outside Ireland.
Australasia GAA in the lead up to the World Games was
looking to see a strong representation from the various regions and have achieved that in their selection.
“We wanted the team to be representative of those players
who were either born here or had been here a number of
years playing for their Club/State. Being selected was a reward for their efforts,” Australasia GAA Secretary, Gerard
Roe told Gaelic Sports World.

Due to the huge geographic distances separating the team,
it was only possible to arrange one training session in Sydney a two weeks ago. To help players prepare for the games
individual training programmes were mapped out for each
player on the 12 player panel.
The squad is made up of 10 Irish players plus two Australians
- Kate Fenton (captain) and Anita Doecke both from Adelaide and who play for the Irish Australians Club attached to
South Australia GAA.
The team will be looked after by two very experienced Coach/
Managers - Fred McCormack from Perth who is the most
successful Coach of a State team at the Australasian Games

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