GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 20 – February 22, 2015 | Page 18

land. Presently, there are some 130 adult clubs and
45 youth clubs playing all codes in the ‘county board’
which is broken up into 9 divisions - Boston/Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Northeast, Western/San
Francisco, Midwest, Philadelphia, Mid Atlantic and
Central/Chicago.
There is no doubt that the US teams will be very
competitive with Irish Diaspora players playing in
very high standard summer city competitions as
well as numerous regional tournaments and the
annual American Nationals. Both squads will be
among the favourites but with winter still very evident outdoors it is not known how preparations
have gone. Gaelic Sports World was not able to
ascertain US team lists ahead of the games.

Canada ladies representatives from Toronto. (GAA World Games)

CANADA brings 3 teams to the World Games with a
Ladies Team in the International World Cup and two
Men’s sides in the World Games Cup.
Canada GAA has 21 affiliated clubs spread across this vast
country and is split into three divisions - Western, Eastern
and Toronto. The huge distances incorporating five time
zones are a huge challenge for any governing body.

Canada men’s representatives from Toronto. (GAA World Games)

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Like America, not a lot is known about Canada’s preparations for the games and with winter raging outside
training will have been a challenge. The Ladies 2 team
in the International Cup has been named and sees an
impressive lineup of native players making up half the
team Canadian.
It is understood that the two men’s teams will be made
up of players from Eastern
Canada in Ottawa, Montreal,
Quebec City, St John, Halifax
and Toronto. The men’s teams
Canada 1 and Canada 2, taking part in the World Cup
should see a strong contingent
of Irish diaspora players, especially those from Toronto
(men’s team lists not available
at present). Despite any hindrance to preparations, the
Canadian teams will be tough
to beat.