In a landmark event, the French Gaelic football team celebrates their inaugural match on Irish turf with a hearty performance of their national anthem, the Marseilles, prompted by a fan’s smartphone. Their adversaries, Portobello GAA – a junior Gaelic team from Rathmines, responded in kind with an Irish anthem, Amhrán na bhFiann.
This marked the conclusion of the cordial sportsmanship. Under the gaze of the French ambassador, Vincent Guérend, the French national team overwhelmed the Irish courtesy team with a score of 1-10 to 0-2. Despite some inaccurate shooting and superfluous moves, the win margin would have been larger.
They continued the series with a impressive 2-09 to 1-08 triumph against a Na Fianna selection, and ended their tour with a 2-04 to 1-07 standoff with Binn Éadair (Howth) – their third match in consecutive days.
The remarkable performance was even more outstanding considering the relative inexperience of the players. All the participants only started Gaelic football as adults, and none of them had ever played 15-a-side prior. With only one full-scale GAA pitch in France – located in Rennes, usual games are either nine or 11-a-side on football and rugby fields. Furthermore, none had experience playing against an Irish team, having only two training sessions before stepping foot in Ireland.
Despite these constraints, the French team proved a formidable opponent in terms of fitness and agility, able to move the ball smoothly and quickly. France GAA’s secretary, Stephen Hegarty, who also plays on the French panel, expressed confidence in their performance, although he acknowledged the need to capitalise on scoring opportunities.
Olivier Kowarski, a PE educator from Brittany, serves as their coach and showcases the same liveliness as any Irish bainisteoir, employing his Gaelic football strategy board to clarify the intricacies of 15-a-side to his team. For most, it’s a fascinating spectacle to observe a team manager barking instructions in a foreign tongue.
Kowarski’s journey with Gaelic football began two decades ago. He shared, “The complexity and competitiveness of Gaelic football intrigued me. I used to play football in my youth, but I desired to explore a different sport, and thus Gaelic football piqued my interest.”
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is flourishing worldwide, with France and Galicia in Spain being two primary hotspots for Gaelic football within mainland Europe. Intriguingly, the promotion of the sport in these regions is solely driven by individuals with no personal ties to Ireland. In the 23 member-strong French team, only Hegarty, whose father hails from Kerry, has an Irish affiliation and, unfortunately, he missed their tour due to injury.
Paris Gaels, the pioneer French club to affiliate with GAA, was established in 1995. The club has now grown to encompass 30 clubs, with 15 in Brittany, boasting over 1,100 players. The national championships necessitate a single-location tournament format due to France’s geographical size.
Arnaud Vitrai (35), a resident of Nantes and captain of the team, is a former footballer who switched sports after 20 years when he learnt about Gaelic Football on the radio. Despite the teasing from his former team-mates about his shots invariably flying over the bar, he decided to try out Gaelic football, known to him as football Gaelic. Today, he is part of Nantes Don Bosco, a club that features two men’s teams, a women’s squad, and a youth academy.
Expressing his passion for the sport, he stated, “The ability to use both hands and feet in the game has drawn me to it. Despite having visited Dublin once, my knowledge about Ireland is scant,” he confessed.
Mika Bonnet, the 32-year-old vice-captain from Clermont Ferrand, began playing Gaelic football in his first university year in 2011. Initially studying sport and feeling dissatisfied with the constraints of Olympic handball, he was introduced to the sport by an Aussie rules-playing friend who mentioned there was a Gaelic football team in Clermont. Bonnet’s inaugural game in Ireland happened as part of the global GAA games at Croke Park in 2016.
Mark Brannigan, a Dublin native, connected with Paris Gaels when he was 22 years old. He currently holds a coaching role with the team. His vision is for the team to compete in All-Ireland junior championships against exclusives clubs like those in London and New York. Nonetheless, achieving this goal might take a little longer because these clubs are backed by a more substantial infrastructure. The initial goal is to identify the team’s competitive standing.
According to Mr. Hegarty, the major team sports in France including football, rugby, handball, and volleyball have certain characteristics that can be tailored to Gaelic football. It’s easy to understand and has a warmth to it, in France, with a potential to expand. The key is to establish new clubs and get more people to participate.
Addressing the youth involvement, he noted that they are planning on creating a French-based youth team. Drawing from the success of their under-15 team from Brittany, which currently holds the European champions title and consists solely of French-born players, they aim to get more young enthusiasts onboard.