handful of area schools to participate in the sport. (Photos: Courtesy of Msgr. McClancy)
Msgr. McClancy High School in East Elmhurst operates its athletics program under the motto that if students show a genuine interest in a new club or sport and there is a willing moderator, they will make it happen.
This year alone, it has added a handful of new activities, including boys’ volleyball, girls’ tennis, and e-sports. Also new to the mix is the traditional Irish sport of Gaelic football, the modern form of which dates back to the 19th century.
Gaelic football is similar to soccer and rugby — a contact sport between two teams of 15 in which participants can pick the ball up with their hands and run forward, with no limit on how long a player can keep possession of the ball.
The objective is to score by kicking or punching the ball into the other team’s goals (3 points) or between two upright posts above the goals and over a crossbar 8 feet, 2 inches above the ground (1 point). A match is comprised of two 35-minute halves, and whichever team has more points at the end is declared the winner.
At McClancy, several boys’ soccer players have already participated in Gaelic football with the local Shannon Gaels sports organization, which has served the New York City area for more than 20 years as the second-largest Gaelic Athletic Association in New York.
This group of players approached the athletic administration asking to start their own club to join the ranks of a few archdiocesan high schools — Archbishop Stepinac H.S., White Plains; Iona Prep, New Rochelle; and Fordham Prep, the Bronx — already taking part in this fast-paced game.
Longtime McClancy athletic director Gerry O’Riordan and school nurse Sarah Sheehan serve as the Gaelic football club’s co-moderators. Both have extensive experience playing and coaching the sport from their days growing up in Ireland. In fact, Sheehan still plays for O’Donovan Rossa, an Irish club based in Queens.
“It’s something that I’ve wanted to kick into gear for a long time here,” O’Riordan said. “With the influx of young men and women from Shannon Gaels, that foundation is there now, and we’ve been able to build upon that.”
“A lot of the players we have, their parents are Irish, so it’s good to keep that culture with us when we’re so far from home and pass that down,” said Sheehan, whose son Tadhg is a member of the McClancy team. “It’s nice to have that connection to something I did growing up.”
The club consists of 18 members, with the majority being freshmen and sophomores. They have been practicing on the McClancy field every Friday since February, and the improvement in their skills is apparent.
“I’ve seen a lot of progress,” said senior Shane Deane, who has played with the Shannon Gaels since he was 8 years old. “Everyone’s interested in playing for their school, and there are new people coming out every Friday to train with us.”
A significant part of the club’s early success has been the support of Cian O’Dea, the development officer for New York’s Gaelic Athletic Association. His role is to help develop the sport in the New York area, so he has been thrilled to assist McClancy in establishing their program. He helps run the practices and leads the student-athletes in engaging in new drills to continue sparking their interest in the sport.
The club’s official debut is happening the first weekend in May at a sevens tournament hosted by O’Dea’s organization. McClancy is also making plans to square off against Archbishop Stepinac in the near future.
Interest in Gaelic has skyrocketed at the school to the point that a group of girls has expressed interest in forming a club, which is expected to kick off next fall.
Just as being part of a team is like being part of a family, Gaelic football takes it a step further, as the sport is a celebration of Irish roots being passed down from generation to generation.
This new club sport further enhances the overall experience for McClancy students looking to be involved in school life. It has a distinctly familiar feel, reminiscent of the famous cornfield scene in the 1989 film “Field of Dreams.”
If McClancy builds it, student-athletes will come.
Contact Jim Mancari via email at jmmanc@gmail.com.