What are we playing? — Cayman Islands Gaelic Football Club

OVERVIEW OF GAELIC GAMES

Irish football (Gaelic Football) is a team sport that is played throughout the world. It and is played by teams of 15 on a rectangular grass pitch with H-shaped goals at each end.

It is played with a round ball and both hands and feet are used to control and pass the ball.

The primary objective is to score by driving the ball through or over the goals. If the ball is sent over bar of the goals, this equates to one point, if it goes under bar, into the goalmouth, this equates to three points.

The team with the highest score at the end of the match wins.

The female version of the game is known as Ladies’ Gaelic football and is very similar to the men’s game, with just a few minor rule changes. Ladies Gaelic football is one of the fastest growing ladies sports in the world.

While Irish football is a contact sport it is not as physical as rugby or Aussie rules and is suitable for all players of all sizes as skills are the most important aspect of the game similar to soccer.

The game is now played throughout the world and is very popular with the ex-pat communities in many of the world’s cities. For children from Cayman it would be a great sport to play as they go abroad to work or study.

In Cayman at adult level it has the highest participation of any team sport, with over 600 adults playing in 2023.

Many sports people who play Soccer, Aussie Rules and Rugby also play Gaelic football, as the skills used are similar.

In fact, the skill picked up by players in this amateur sport makes them the most adaptable footballers in the world. They have gone on to play World Cup soccer, British and Irish Lions Rugby, NFL, AFL as well as for the Rugby League Lions side.

Hurling is a different game which is played with hurls (a type of stick) and a smaller ball called a sliotar. The scoring mechanism is the same as that used in Gaelic Football. Camógie is the term for the ladies’ version of the sport.

The rules of each sport are outlined below: