USGAA Newsletter: August 2023

Tournaments and Local Competition Kicks off across the country!

In the USGAA, April kicked off with two great tournaments. There was some unexpected weather that could have stopped The Music City Invitational Hurling Tournament in Nashville Tennessee in its tracks but our members and participants in the tournament moved their games to Sunday, April 2^nd where Memphis GAA, Knoxville GAA, Naperville Hurling and Camogie Clun, Athens Hurling Clun, Madison, Atlanta GAA, and Little Rock GAA all participated. It was a great way for Nashville GAA to kick off their 10^th“birthday.” Knoxville came out on top that day and took home The Watson Cup! The Grit City Opener also took place on the other side of the country that weekend in Tacoma Washington. It was a 7’s tournament comprised of one full field of hurling and then a second field of camogie and men’s and ladies’ football. It was a great day to start the season in the Northwest! Easter weekend, The LGFA visited Austin and put on a great weekend of events for the Ladies All-stars, as well as our ladies football members with coaching sessions and an exhibition game. Heartland division was also keeping busy with the Miltown Gaels Easter Invitational 9’s tournament at Hart Park Stadium that weekend where teams in the Central division came to participate with teams from Heartland division. Philadelphia division followed the trend by kicking off their season with two back-to-back weekends of 7s tournament, starting with men and ladies’ football on the 15^th and hurling and camogie on the 22^nd. The weekend of the 22^nd was a busy one as The Holy City Cup in the Southeast was hosted by Charleston Hurling Club where a 9 aside tournament commenced at 8:40 in the morning and the championship game was played at 4:40. If you make your way up the East Coast on that same day to the Northeast GAA, Aiden McAnespie GFC was hosting the 2^nd Annual Enda Hamill Perpetual Cup where Connemara Gaels took the win. April rounded out on April 29^th with Timmy Cronin Sr Memorial Cup 7s in Greensboro NC, part of the Southeast Division. May will be another busy month with 10 tournaments already slated to take place plus many local competitions.

USGAA New Memorial Cups for 2023

USGAA honors hard working Gaels that made an impact on USGAA. Bill McGowan will be the Junior D Football honoree. Martin O’Connell will be the Junior B Hurling honoree. Gerry McKnight will be the Junior D Hurling honoree. Maureen Doherty will also be honored

CYC 2023 in San Francisco

USGAA in association with our twinning partner Munster GAA recently held two coaching seminar weekends in the Heartland (Milwaukee) and Midwest (Pittsburgh) Divisions.

The focus of the weekends was providing coaches across the two divisions with practical on-field advice and instruction as well as giving them an opportunity to meet their counter-parts at other clubs and share ideas.

Limerick man John Enright (a Clare GDA) and Clare’s Micheal Duffy (Clare Games manager) visited the Steel City where 50 coaches learned defensive, offensive, and general game play using small-sided games designed to ensure every player gets more touches to feel competent in executing the various skills of our sport.

James Ryan (Limerick Games Manager) and David O’Dea (Limerick GDA) were selected by Munster to work with the Heartland Division where 40 enthusiastic coaches gained valuable insights into how to teach the skills of the various codes in a games-based environment.

USGAA Games Development Officer, Rob Tierney, believes the weekends were a tremendous success: “Legacy is an important component of these regional events and all four Munster coaches have offered to be a resource for the USGAA coaches they met moving forward. This will be a valuable asset for our coaches as they prepare their teams not just for this season but also well into the future”.

Next up is the Southwest Division in Denver with the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Northwest Divisions expected to follow in the Autumn.

Youth activity starts to ramp up

Our youth programs are also starting to get outside and start this season. Chicago GDA, Colm Egan, hosted an Easter Irish Sports day in the Central division where the adult clubs helped with coaching as the children had a great day either dusting off their hurley and football skills or walked away with a new skill they learned. Raleigh GAA is hosting a six week Spring Youth Skills Camp where each week children learn a new skill related to football or hurling/camogie. Philadelphia Youth GAA has started outdoor training for their upcoming blitz’. Boston and Philadelphia are sending teams to feile so both of those divisions have been focusing on training those boys and girls in preparation for the fun on July 1^st. Philadelphia and Boston also just hosted the first U17 league in Philadelphia the last weekend in April with two more dates where the teams will meet again to try to keep that minor age group interested and invested as they transition from the youth programs into adult programs. CYC registration is officially open and teams are starting to get excited to go to San Francisco for what sounds like an epic week of games and fun for the children attending. As the weather begins to break and school ends, our youth activity will continue to increase with tournaments and local blitz.

Masita Packages specially created for USGAA

Upcoming Events

- - 2023 Registration
    - still open for new Homegrown players until August 1st
  - Tournaments
    - Oak City Cup- Hurling & Camogie
      - July 8, 2023
    - Joe Hurd Memorial Naperville 9’s
      - July 22, 2023
    - 16th Annual Midwest Tournament
      - September 16, 2023
    - Clash of the Ash Hurling & Camogie Tournament
      - September 16, 2023
    - 2023 NW Division Draft
      - September 23, 2023
    - Higgins Cup
      - October 14, 2023
- - CYC, Chicago
    - July 27-30, 2023
  - USGAA Playoffs, Denver
    - August 18-20, 2023
  - USGAA 2023 Convention, San Francisco
    - November 10-12, 2023