A GAELIC football club is set to welcome pupils from 15 schools this week as it hosts its first ever school’s tournament.
Gael Londain, based at the Hazelwood Centre in Surrey, will hold the inaugural Gael Londain Gaelic Football Schools Tournament on Friday, bringing together primary and secondary school pupils for an afternoon of Gaelic games.
The club, founded in 2016, has grown a lot in recent years and now caters for more than 150 boys and girls aged between four and 18.
In addition to its kids section, the club has also fielded men's teams over the past two years.
Coach Shane Healy, a native of Co. Mayo who has lived in London since 2007, said the tournament was designed to introduce more young people to Gaelic football and give them an opportunity to experience the sport.
"The reason we are doing the tournament is that we know our own kids enjoy playing; we just thought we would give other children the opportunity to play Gaelic football," he said.
"If they join our club, good and well; if they don't, then we've given them a chance to play for their school and play against other schools.
"It's given them the experience; that's the biggest thing."
The tournament will run from 1:30pm to 3:30pm, followed by a barbecue for players and their families.
Mr Healy said the event reflects the club's ethos.
"It's the community," he said when asked what brings people together through the GAA.
"We're not trying to convert everyone to get them away from other sports; we're just trying to show them the sport.
"Because plenty of them aren't Irish or have no link to Irish people. They just wanted to try something different, and they enjoyed it.
"It's very inclusive; all ages can join."
The club shares the grounds with London Irish Rugby Club (Photo by Gael Londain)Mr Healy became involved with the club around seven years ago after hearing about it through fellow members of the Irish community.
"We bumped into Sean O'Donnell at Mass one day, and he just mentioned there was a club nearby, and then one thing just went from there to there, just bringing the kids and getting involved with it," he said.
The club recently enjoyed a memorable visit from the Mayo senior football team when they travelled to London for their Connacht Championship fixture against London.
Mayo trained at Hazelwood, the training grounds of London Irish Rugby Club, where manager Andy Moran spent time coaching the club's young players.
"Andy Moran, the Mayo manager, took all the kids for a training session.”
"So that was a nice moment for the kids. There were under-fives, under-nines, under-11s and under-13s; they were all there."
Looking to the future, Mr Healy said the club hopes the schools' tournament will become a permanent fixture of Gaelic games in London.
"It's one step at a time, but ideally we would like to get more games in," he said.
"It's just about managing with the schools."
The Gael Londain Gaelic Football Schools Tournament takes place this Friday, June 5 at the Hazelwood Centre from 1:30pm to 3:30pm.
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See More: GAA, Gael Londaín, Gaelic Football, London, Shane Healy, Sport
