#Laois Senior Football Championship
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La storia è in arrivo a Rovigo! Sabato prossimo, 25 Agosto, con inizio alle ore 10.00, il baseball field della città delle rose ospiterà la prima edizione della Rovigo GAA Rounders International Cup – Trofeo AgoraSport Online. Dopo il successo ottenuto nell’Alpen Cup disputata nello scorso mese di Ottobre, che vide i ragazzi e le ragazze dell’Ascaro Rovigo GAA conquistare il trofeo alla fine di un torneo avvincente, quanto equilibrato, superando il team svizzero Zurich Inneoin GAA e la selezione messa in campo dal BSC Rovigo, toccherà al team irlandese The Heath GAA, fresco campione d’Irlanda, provare a vincere la prima edizione del torneo internazionale organizzato dalla New Ascaro Rovigo asd in collaborazione con il Baseball Softball Club Rovigo. Comunque andrà a finire qui si scriverà una pagina di storia per questa antica disciplina sportiva in quanto si registrerà la prima volta di un club irlandese, senza ombra di dubbio il migliore delle ultime stagioni (4 Trofei All-Ireland Mixed, 1 Ladies e 4 Maschili conquistati negli ultimi 8 campionati lo testimoniano, n.d.r), impegnato in una competizione al di fuori dei confini nazionali.
Il Rounders, sport dalle origini antichissime e che diede i natali al baseball moderno, che convenzionalmente si fanno risalire all’anno 1839 a Cooperstown (New York) per opera di Abner Doubleday che per primo tracciò un campo di gioco e ad Alexander Cartwright che ne codificò le regole fondamentali, assieme al gaelic football, all’hurling ed all’handball, in Irlanda, è uno dei quattro sport gestiti dalla Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), la federazione fondata a Thurles l’1 Novembre 1884 da Michael Cusack e che ancora oggi gestisce le attività di questi sport che affondano le loro radici nella complessa, quanto orgogliosa, storia dell’Isola di Smeraldo e ne è depositaria delle tradizioni.
Solo quattro anni dopo la nascita della GAA, James O’Brien venne eletto presidente di un nuovo club fondato nell’autunno del 1888 tra le aule della The Heath School. Il nuovo club venne consacrato al Patrono nazionale e mosse i primi passi col nome di St. Patrick. Agli albori del Club gli studenti si dedicarono esclusivamente al gioco del football gaelico adottando come colori sociali il grigio-scarlatto. Dopo pochi anni, sulle maglie del Club, i colori attuali, giallo e nero, presero il posto di quelli originari. Tra il 1912 ed il 1993 The Heath riuscì a scrivere, per ben 10 volte, il proprio nome nell’albo d’oro del campionato di Contea (Laois Senior Football Championship) e nel periodo compreso tra gli anni ’70 ed ’80, del secolo scorso, fu in grado di esprimere anche alcune squadre molto competitive nei campionati Ladies Football.
La vera svolta però si ebbe solo all’inizio degli anni ’80 quando Michael Dowling portò il gioco del Rounders al The Heath GAA Club e nella locale scuola. Correva infatti l’anno 1983 quando Dowling iniziò ad insegnare il Rounders, sport che ottenne immediatamente un buon riscontro tra i tesserati. Dai pochi praticanti della prima ora, con il passare del tempo, il Rounders è divenuto uno sport al quale oggi partecipano praticamente tutti i membri del Club. Quasi tutti i circa 200 tesserati dei settori giovanili hanno praticato anche questo sport vincendo la maggior parte dei titoli All-Ireland di Rounders nelle varie categorie. Sotto la guida di Michael Dowling i più giovani, maturando, si trasformarono in giocatori eccellenti ed una volta approdati alla categoria senior andarono a formare team molto competitivi ed in grado di ambire ai titoli più importanti nei Championship maschili, femminili e mixed.
Il team Mixed The Heath GAA che sabato scorso a Dublino si è confermato campione All-Ireland
Nel 2011 arrivò così la prima grande affermazione del Club della Contea di Laois: The Heath GAA vinse infatti il suo primo titolo senior nel campionato All-Ireland Mixed, seguito a ruota, nella stagione successiva, dal primo titolo nazionale maschile e da quello Ladies nel 2013. In quest’ultima stagione arrivò anche un’altro titolo Mixed portando così nella bacheca del Club, rimasta tristemente vuota fino al 2011, la bellezza di quattro “All-Ireland Titles” nel breve lasso di tempo di soli tre anni. Un successo straordinario che portò entusiasmo a tutto l’ambiente, preludio ad un altro “triplete” ottenuto nel campionato maschile in rapida successione: 2015, 2016 e 2017. Nella scorsa stagione arrivò anche l’ennesimo trofeo nel campionato “misto”, trofeo che portò ad 8 il totale delle vittorie All-Ireland in sole sette stagioni. Una media pazzesca che sembra destinata a non finire tanto presto considerando il fatto che, anche quest’anno, i ragazzi e le ragazze “della brughiera”, si sono guadagnati tutte e tre le finali nazionali che si sono giocate, al National Sports Campus di Dublino, lo scorso 18 Agosto, giusto una settimana prima del loro sbarco a Rovigo. Formidabile il risultato ottenuto dal team Mixed, che ha superato con il punteggio di 32 – 18 Glynn-Barntown Rounders confermandosi così campioni All-Ireland anche nel 2018. Conferma non riuscita invece al team maschile che ha dovuto cedere, dopo tre titoli consecutivi, lo scettro di campioni d’Irlanda a Erne Eagles Cavan, al termine di una partita combattuta ed avvincente decisa al fotofinish solo sul finire dell’ultimo inning. Bella prestazione anche della squadra Ladies non sufficiente però a contrastare l’esperienza delle ragazze di Glynn-Barntowns che si confermano così campionesse per il terzo anno di seguito.
Ai successi di squadra, nel corso degli ultimi anni, The Heath ha aggiunto alla collezione anche tutta una serie di riconoscimenti personali grazie al talento dei tanti tesserati vincitori del titolo All-Star GAA. Ad aprire la serie furono i fratelli Desmond e Seamus Mulhare, seguiti da Dwayne Keane, Danielle Keane, Philip Keane, Donnagh Treacy e Aisling Boyle. Molti dei destinatari dell’importante riconoscimento “All Star” saranno in campo a Rovigo sabato 25 Agosto prossimo per giocare il Rovigo GAA Rounders International Cup, regalando così alla competizione ancor più interesse e prestigio.
Con il passare del tempo, l’enorme lavoro svolto da Michael Dowling ha prodotto i suoi frutti ed ha portato enormi soddisfazioni, anche a livello personale, allo stesso Dowling che oltre ad aver vinto numerosi titoli come allenatore a livello giovanile, è sempre stato presente, fin dalla prima ora, anche a tutti i trionfi dei suoi ragazzi e delle sue ragazze nel massimo campionato irlandese. Passione e successi sono stati riconosciuti al buon Michael anche a livello nazionale tanto che come membro degli Heath Rounders GAA è stato insignito del GAA President’s Award, un meritato “Oscar” alla carriera per tutte le sue stagioni di lavoro volte alla divulgazione del Rounders all’interno del proprio Club. Un prestigioso riconoscimento personale per un uomo che ha il merito di aver promosso, spinto e supervisionato gli esordi del Rounders in The Heath GAA, il club “della brughiera”. Michael Dowling, grazie ai suoi indubbi meriti, oggi ricopre il ruolo di presidente della Federazione GAA Rounders e, con l’entusiasmo che lo contraddistingue da sempre, sta cercando di mettere a disposizione del movimento tutta la sua esperienza con l’obiettivo di spingere sempre più questo sport, antico ed avvincente, anche a livello nazionale e con la partecipazione del suo Club al torneo rodigino, aiuterà a far germogliare il seme Rounders anche nel resto d’Europa.
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Rovigo GAA Rounders International Cup 2018 – Trofeo Agora Sport Online
Campo Comunale Baseball Softball Club Rovigo – Via Vittorio Veneto – Rovigo
ore 10.00 BSC Rovigo vs The Heath GAA
ore 13.00 The Heath GAA vs Ascaro Rovigo GAA
ore 16.00 Ascaro Rovigo GAA vs BSC Rovigo
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The Heath GAA Rounders Club. I Campioni d’Irlanda in Polesine! La storia è in arrivo a Rovigo! Sabato prossimo, 25 Agosto, con inizio alle ore 10.00, il baseball field della…
#Alpen Cup#Ascaro Rovigo Gaa#Bsc Rovigo#GAA#Gaelic Athletic Association#Laois Senior Football Championship#Michael Cusack#Rounders#Rovigo#Rovigo GAA Rounders International#The Heath GAA#Zurich Inneoin GAA
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Leinster Senior Football Final: Dublin v Kildare preview
Thousands of fans will descend upon Croke Park yet again this weekend as Dublin prepare to take on Kildare for the 17th time in Leinster Senior Football Final history.
In what should be a thrilling contest, the two counties will battle it out for a place in the 2017 GAA football All-Ireland finals.
There is history in the making as the Dubs bid to become the first county to win the Leinster title for seven successive seasons.
WHAT THEY SAID:
Dublin manager, Jim Gavin:
“They (Kildare) are a very impressive side. They are very fit, they are very mobile, they had that impressive run in Division 2, they got promoted to Division 1.
Inpho
“They won both of their championship games against very close rivals in Laois and Kildare. They have pushed on.
“And again, having known Kildare football so well, I attend a lot of their championship games, they play good football down there. And that’s a reflection of what I would see at championship games during the year.
“So it is going to be a big task – as it always is.
“We do a bit of work on the opposition but we always focus on our game.
“We don’t look to see what we can score, it’s to try and get that performance.
“And hopefully at the end, when you add up the scores, we’re a point ahead of the opposition.”
Cian O’Neill, Kildare manager:
“Will we be more defensive minded? Of course we will. Will we need to put in 20 or 30 per cent more intensity? Of course we will. That won’t change. You’re playing the All-Ireland champions, two time champions, but we’ll still play attacking football.
Inpho
“I suppose the real challenge will be to get the balance right between the two.
“You certainly can’t leave any of your defenders or your defensive line exposed against a team like Dublin so we’re obviously going to work really hard on that. But we’re still going to play the type of football that has made some progress for us and for the county this year.”
KEY STATS:
If Kildare oust the Dubs this weekend it will be the first time the Lilywhites have won the Leinster title since 2000.
Inpho
Dublin have beaten Kildare on their last five championship clashes, the most recent victory came in 2015 when the Dubs hammered Kildare 5-18 to 0-14.
The pair have met 16 times in Leinster finals with Dublin winning ten and Kildare just four, with two draws.
Dublin haven’t conceded a goal in their last four Leinster SFC games.
LIFE STYLE SPORTS HAS THE LATEST RANGE OF EVERY COUNTY. EVERY COLOUR AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE IN-STORE AND ONLINE. CLICK HERE TO SHOP NOW.
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Leinster Senior Football Final: Dublin v Kildare preview published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv
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Is it finally time for a two-tiered All-Ireland Senior Football Championship?
In the 2017 Leinster SFC semi final, current All-Ireland and Leinster Champions Dublin met Westmeath. The Lake County went into the game understandably as underdogs, but the result was fairly emphatic in the end – the Dubs winning by a staggering 31 points.
A win for Dublin was always likely in truth, but the margin of the victory highlighted the massive gulf in class between the two teams. This is a major problem faced by the GAA in recent times; the top counties are simply streets ahead of the rest. With this, the argument for a B Championship league has been introduced. But does this idea have merit?
The smaller weaker football counties such as Westmeath, Wicklow, Leitrim, Carlow and Longford, to name but a few are already at a big disadvantage. They have lower populations (with Wicklow as an exception) with fewer players to choose from. As this is an amateur sport, there are no transfer deals to buy and sell players. Every year if these minnows come up against a bigger side like e.g. Meath or Mayo, it really is a mismatch in terms of quality, and the outcome is nearly assured prior to a ball being kicked. The losing team would still have a qualifier match as a backdoor in the Championship, but upon losing that they are out of the competition. You would imagine that this restricted system would effect players’ motivation from the small counties. Where is the incentive for these players to train hard all year? They are just guaranteed to play two matches, and virtually zero chance of winning the competition on a whole. Remember this is an amateur sport; so all participation is on a volunteer basis.
Introducing a B Championship would help solve this problem. If the bottom 16 teams in the country played their own championship, matches on a whole would be far more competitive and entertaining.
However, Gearoid Adams, the Antrim joint manager feels a B Championship is somewhat demeaning;
“Once you go into a B championship, you’re basically second class. Do we want to make the top teams even better and we’re playing catch-up even further? The majority of the Antrim squad would enjoy an Ulster championship win rather than some secondary competition.”
Many managers echo this view. It suggests inequality and inferiority among counties. Pat Flanagan, the Offaly manager wants equal opportunities for all teams at the start of the competition.
“Everybody should be offered the opportunity to play for the A championship – and the B championship should kick into the place then. There is a gap developing but that shouldn’t take away from our national game being segregated for one group of people.”
Added to that, we must also consider that a new two-tier championship would be effectively scrapping the provincial championship as it currently exists. How would the new structure work? It has been argued that a group stage league format could exist similar to that of the Champions League in association football. Each team would be guaranteed to play the other three counties on a home and away basis. Laois manager Peter Creedon concurs with this-
“I’d be all for groups of four – the top two going to one particular championship and the bottom two to another championship. They all play off at the same time at the end of the year in Croke Park, the same date for semi-finals and finals. That’s what every inter-county player deserves – the opportunity to play before a big crowd in Croke Park.”
What’s clear is that something has to change for the All Ireland Senior Football Championship to evolve and stay competitive. At the moment the competition really begins in earnest in the later stages when the likes of Mayo, Tyrone Donegal, Kerry, and Dublin inevitably slug it out for the Sam Maguire trophy. Wouldn’t it be nice for the people of Leitrim to one day watch their team win any trophy in Croke Park?
Is it finally time for a two-tiered All-Ireland Senior Football Championship? was originally published on Glamour and Grime
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06-11 Offaly , Ireland - 4 June 2017; Kildare manager Cian O'Neill before the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Laois and Kildare at O'Connor Park, in ... http://dlvr.it/PLS5Qz
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05-21 Laois , Ireland - 21 May 2017; The Laois team led by captain Stephen Attride make their way out of the dressing-room ahead of the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship Round 1 match ... http://dlvr.it/PC7MPV
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Leinster Senior Football Final: Dublin v Kildare preview
Thousands of fans will descend upon Croke Park yet again this weekend as Dublin prepare to take on Kildare for the 17th time in Leinster Senior Football Final history.
In what should be a thrilling contest, the two counties will battle it out for a place in the 2017 GAA football All-Ireland finals.
There is history in the making as the Dubs bid to become the first county to win the Leinster title for seven successive seasons.
WHAT THEY SAID:
Dublin manager, Jim Gavin:
“They (Kildare) are a very impressive side. They are very fit, they are very mobile, they had that impressive run in Division 2, they got promoted to Division 1.
Inpho
“They won both of their championship games against very close rivals in Laois and Kildare. They have pushed on.
“And again, having known Kildare football so well, I attend a lot of their championship games, they play good football down there. And that’s a reflection of what I would see at championship games during the year.
“So it is going to be a big task – as it always is.
“We do a bit of work on the opposition but we always focus on our game.
“We don’t look to see what we can score, it’s to try and get that performance.
“And hopefully at the end, when you add up the scores, we’re a point ahead of the opposition.”
Cian O’Neill, Kildare manager:
“Will we be more defensive minded? Of course we will. Will we need to put in 20 or 30 per cent more intensity? Of course we will. That won’t change. You’re playing the All-Ireland champions, two time champions, but we’ll still play attacking football.
Inpho
“I suppose the real challenge will be to get the balance right between the two.
“You certainly can’t leave any of your defenders or your defensive line exposed against a team like Dublin so we’re obviously going to work really hard on that. But we’re still going to play the type of football that has made some progress for us and for the county this year.”
KEY STATS:
If Kildare oust the Dubs this weekend it will be the first time the Lilywhites have won the Leinster title since 2000.
Inpho
Dublin have beaten Kildare on their last five championship clashes, the most recent victory came in 2015 when the Dubs hammered Kildare 5-18 to 0-14.
The pair have met 16 times in Leinster finals with Dublin winning ten and Kildare just four, with two draws.
Dublin haven’t conceded a goal in their last four Leinster SFC games.
LIFE STYLE SPORTS HAS THE LATEST RANGE OF EVERY COUNTY. EVERY COLOUR AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE IN-STORE AND ONLINE. CLICK HERE TO SHOP NOW.
The post Leinster Senior Football Final: Dublin v Kildare preview appeared first on Life Style Sports Blog.
Leinster Senior Football Final: Dublin v Kildare preview published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv
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06-11 Offaly , Ireland - 4 June 2017; Kildare manager Cian O'Neill before the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Laois and Kildare at O'Connor Park, in ... http://dlvr.it/PLQ7QT
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06-11 Offaly , Ireland - 4 June 2017; Kildare manager Cian O'Neill before the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Laois and Kildare at O'Connor Park, in ... http://dlvr.it/PLMCw9
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06-10 Offaly , Ireland - 4 June 2017; Kildare manager Cian O'Neill before the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Laois and Kildare at O'Connor Park, in ... http://dlvr.it/PLFB1G
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06-08 Offaly , Ireland - 4 June 2017; Kildare manager Cian O'Neill before the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Laois and Kildare at O'Connor Park, in ... http://dlvr.it/PKmflW
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06-06 Offaly , Ireland - 4 June 2017; Kildare manager Cian O'Neill before the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Laois and Kildare at O'Connor Park, in ... http://dlvr.it/PKF4Pq
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06-03 Laois , Ireland - 3 June 2017; Carlow players stand for the National Anthem before the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Dublin and Carlow at O'Moore ... http://dlvr.it/PJVdMC
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