USGAA Newsletter: December 2021

USGAA Wraps up 2021 Season with Convention in Charlotte

It was a tough year all around bouncing back from a year off due to COVID but USGAA members took it in strides. 

The weekend of November 12th through the 14th, USGAA Convention, the meeting to reflect on the previous year, was held in Charlotte, NC. The weekend included reports from the 2020 USGAA Board Officers, motions from the board and clubs around the country, and the 2021 elections. 

Some things to highlight, seven motions were passed this year. 

Motion 8: Submitted by Aidan McAnespies: Proposal to modify USGAA Regulation 3 so that official USGAA or J1 sanctions will always be classifies as non-resident, in men’s football.

Motion 9: Submitted by Aidan McAnespies: Proposal to modify USGAA Regulation 4 so that at a senior level in men’s football, no more than 5 non-resident players can be on the field at any one time. 

Motion 16: Summitted by Connacht Ladies: Proposal to modify USGAA Regulation 4 so that all homegrown players from Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia who have previously or are currently registered in the USGAA Youth and are eligible to play on a 100% American team may also play at a higher grade level with another club in their division. 

Motion 18: Submitted by Boston Shamrocks: Proposal to modify USGAA Regulation 4 so that all ladies football teams at Junior, Intermediate, and Senior level must start with a minimum of 3 homegrown players and can never have more than 12 non-homegrown players on the field. 

Motion 20: Submitted by Galway Boston Hurling: Proposal to modify USGAA Regulation 5 so that all men’s hurling teams at Junior, Intermediate, and Senior level must start with a minimum of 2 homegrown players and can never have more than 11 non-homegrown players on the field. 

Motion 21: Submitted by Charlotte GAA: Proposal to modify USGAA Bye-Law 14 so that USGAA confirms receipt of the regrade request within 14 days of receiving the official email and that approval/denial is provided to the club detailing reasons request was denied or approved by April 30th of that same year. 

 

In addition, we would like to take a moment to thank the outgoing USGAA Vice-Chair, John Young, and Secretary, Rob Tierney, for their hard work throughout 2021. They were instrumental in the USGAA return-to-play strategy as well as other critical work groups and initiatives that were worked on throughout the year. Also, congratulations to the new 2022 Vice Chair, Paul Keane, and Secretary, Liam Maloney, who are returning members to the USGAA board. 

 

UPMC brings awareness to Concussion Protocol 

At convention, Nathan E. Kegel, PhD, a representative of UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program presented information on Concussion Awareness and Protocol.

Some key takeaways from that presentation were that the sooner a player seeks treatment the more likely they are to recover sooner. In addition, it may not always be beneficial to completely “shut down” after a concussion. Light exercise and some brain exercise is healthy and helps players recover from concussions sooner. As always, consult with your doctor before doing anything that may be deemed strenuous.

To watch the full presentation, head over to our saved videos on the USGAA Facebook page. 

LGFA hosts Winter Webinar Series

As a reminder, LGFA is hosting a Winter Webinar Series that is currently taking a place with a few different topics still to come. You can find details at https://ladiesgaelic.ie/learn/upcoming-webinars/ LGFA will be recording many of these topics and they will be available on the LGFA YouTube channel. 

A clip from Grassroots- Stories from The Heart of the GAA

Youth Officer, Paul Mulcaire, has been featured in a collection of stories in a book called Grassroots- Stories From the Heart of the GAA. Paul’s story is called: Cameo Mocked by Hands of Time. Read below to see a funny tale of a father and son getting to play together before Paul’s official retirement. 

There is an annual game Buffalo play against NYPD on the day before the first round of the Connacht championship.  

At 53, my playing days were well behind me at the time in 2019. But my son had come up through the youth programme and at 17 had real potential. I asked the manager to put me on for five minutes so I could say that we had played together in Gaelic Park. He said that wouldn’t be a problem. 

Seán Harte, a cousin of Mickey’s, reffed the game. Seán is now the Canadian Co Chairman but is a darn good ref too. The game started on a fresh chilly evening in Gaelic Park. I’m all decked out in my Fenian shorts and socks with just a t-shirt on.  

Just before half-time, the hallelujah moment came as Conor, the coach and manager, tells me to go in at full forward. So my son Jack and I were not only playing together but were both in the full-forward line. 

Jack high-fives me as I run by him. Now to get my excuses in first… the surface on the artificial turf was very worn.  Almost immediately, Jack won a great ball in and his movement drew the goalkeeper out of position. Jack could see how open I was to score and passed. 

All I had to do was punch the ball into the empty net but in my anticipation of scoring, the ball slipped and bounced on the hard surface like a stone skipping across water. I took off after it as optimistically I thought I could still retrieve it. 

What my head was thinking didn’t telegraph further down my torso. My legs became confused and I only succeeded in tripping myself up. 

 “Seán surely someone pushed me?” I pleaded. He laughed. “Paul, it wasn’t meant to be.” 

 “Dad, please get off the field, you’re embarrassing the family name,” Jack whispered. With my tail between my legs, I returned to the sideline. 

By game’s end, I somehow persuaded Conor to let me back in and this time, there was a much better outcome … honestly, I didn’t fall down once! 

Upcoming Events

    • 2021 Registration
      • January 2021
    • Congress
      • February 25-27