The Gaelic Football section of Nantes Student Club, http://www.nantesgaa.org carries on with its Beach Gaelic adventure and proposes this year again a tournament opened to beginner clubs and teams, on the sand at Pornichet (Loire-Atlantique).
Still quite unknown in Europe, the Beach Gaelic is already strongly settled on the Atlantic coast of the United States http://www.beachgaelic.com/new/home.asp?menuid=1 . It is played on dry sand, its area corresponds to a hand ball field ; the rules are very little different from those of the Gaelic football, they are only adapted to the surface provided.
A first successfull year in 2008 had gathered about 70 players from Brittany, Paris or Ireland. This tournament allows the discovery of the Gaelic football in the Nantes large surroundings and on the coast of the Loire, in a sports and cultural frame, but mostly in a fun spirit. The beginner teams are invited to join the tournament, with, this year a special trophy for the best one.
The Nantes Club is the initiator of this new practice in Europe. The consequences of the 2008 tourney had brought many Irish teams to question themselves about this original sport. Mostly after an Irish TV report broadcast in autumn 2008. This tournament remains nowadays the only Beach Gaelic competition in Europe. The trophy (a dish of Breton earthenware) is also very original because its decoration is inspired from a local legend : the story of The magic dish of the “korrigans” (1).
This year, plans exist to create one or more clubs in the Saint-Nazaire / La Baule / Guérande area. This event is also an opportunity to invite learning players to discover this practice and why, then, would they not create a local team next September ?
Many Breton associations are partners to this event, like Diwan, Ingalañ, ACB, the Gaelic football leagues of Brittany and of Europe, and the French Federation of Gaelic football, and also the ICB (Cultural Institute of Brittany) and the CREDIB / Saint-Nazer (Center for Research and Promotion of Breton Identity).
(1) Korrigans : tiny Breton goblins that get out only during the night.
Meeting place : Pornichet (beetween Saint-Nazaire and La Baule) Saturday June 13th to discover this sport in full expansion in the area.
If you are on holidays in the surroundings, please come and meet us, you will be most welcome.
Games from 2 to 6 pm. At the “Booksellers Beach” (Plage des Libraires), in front of the Casino.
More informations : Guillaume Kerrien : 06 32 65 51 59 and
beachgaelic2009 [at] googlegroups.com .
http://liguebretonne.footballgaelique.com/ of the Breton League of Gaelic football.
http://www.nantesgaa.org/ of Nantes Gaelic Football Association.
[Lire] in French. Translation Maryvonne Cadiou.
Beach Gaelic Challenge Pornichet June 13th 2009. Program.. Source :Nantes Gaelic Football
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