February marks one year since the beginnings of the Cardiff University GAA team. GAA is a collective term mainly used for the Irish sports of Gaelic football and Hurling. In February 2025 myself and a handful of others brought about the idea of setting up such a club at the university. An initial committee was formed along with approval of affiliation to the athletic union. A week later with the loan of balls and pitch from the local adult’s club, St Colmcille’s our first training session was arranged. With promising numbers at this we made it our goal to enter the upcoming central British university championships which were being held in Manchester in just three weeks. After rounding up 17 students we made the journey up, borrowing kits from the local club we played five games eventually going out to the home side in the cup semi-final out of ten teams there on the day, not bad for a club that did not exist a month prior.
Throughout the summer the committee worked hard pulling in four healthy sponsors in time for the new academic year, this allowed us to fund a men and ladies match kit as well as our own training equipment. In September we were present on both days of the fresher’s fair supported by goodie bags to give out from our new sponsor O’Neill’s pub. We were amazed by the interest and uptake from students on the day, many with no Irish connection at all. A week later we hosted our first ‘give it a go’ session with 35 new students attending giving them the opportunity to trial both sports with positive feedback from the day.
With the men’s having promising numbers we entered the BUCS league for Gaelic football giving students the opportunity to play games every Saturday from October through to February. We played our first game against Nottingham university winning comfortably 2-11 (17pts) to 1-04 (7pts). The league wrapped up on the 14th of this month placing 3rd overall, a huge achievement for our first year.
We also train a Ladies team, this year there was not enough numbers to enter the equivalent league however they have been entering tournaments with smaller squad requirements. In November, the girls travelled to Oxford to play in a 9s tournament managing to take the shield home after battling against a strong Cambridge and Warwickshire, a great stepping stone for their development. We hope to enter them into the league in the following academic year.
Our weekly socials have helped integrate both teams often carrying a fun theme, these encourage students who may not be interested in committing to training but still enjoy the social aspect. I hope this club can continue and grow for many years to come long after I have finished university as it has provided a great way for students from all over to come together.