GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 31 – August 8, 2015 | Page 9

“Since then the hurling team has thrived, with 10 players
traveling to Missoula, Montana in April for the McEneaney Cup,” he said.
After the local 7’s tourney, the Regina Gaels football
team competed last weekend Aug 1-2 at Edmonton in
its third Western Canadian Football Championships and
its first ever Western Canadian Hurling Championships.
This time 20 hurlers took part in the championships. The
club’s first competitive games were at this competition
in 2013 and back then they garnered success immediately when they won the junior
football championship beating Red Deer in
extra time in the final.

nadian cities don’t have trouble filling their rosters, and so
it’s more difficult to involve local beginners when they are in
competition for playing time with more experienced Irish
expats.
“For Regina Gaels however, in tournaments gone by,
both home and abroad, we would have struggled to
field a team if it weren’t for Canadians, and so it’s essential to recruit beginners and train them from the
ground up.”

This year the club took the junior football and junior hurling tournaments at the
Western Championships, culminating in
the biggest and most successful day in the
club’s short history.
CHALLENGES

But it’s not all a bed of roses for the new
club especially when it comes to maintaining numbers as there can be a tendency for
players to move on.

Photo courtesy of Regina Gaels.

“The club faces challenges in a high turnover of players.
A lot of Irish guys only stay a year or two. Some can’t
settle, plus competing against a high standard of football
and particularly hurling in western Canada from the
three main cities, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver,”
stated the secretary.
Costello though is hopeful that win increased local membership things can be sustained into the future.
“We’d love to get more Canadian members involved with
the club. I imagine our rival clubs based in the bigger Ca-

VITAL

And, the local angle has worked well for the club thus far.
“This of course has its advantages, both on and off the
fie