While Gaelic football may sound like a sport designed to ward off vampires, a fledgling footy club is growing in Greater Victoria.

Langford residents Nicky Brown and Rhianedd Gwilym were introduced to the sport during Van Isle Rovers Gaelic Athletic ClubB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渂ring a friend dayB次元官网网址� and fell in love with the sport, with Gwilym later inviting her colleague Molly McClellan along to play as well.

The Rovers started in 2019 and are the only team on the Island, meaning frequent ferry trips to Vancouver where there are several clubs stocked full of Irishmen who have grown up playing the sport, versus a team comprised largely of newbies. But despite their inexperience Van Isle fared well, losing narrowly in the semi-finals of the Division 3 Gaelic football championships.

B次元官网网址淭hey donB次元官网网址檛 beat you up for it if you do something wrong, just in the future letB次元官网网址檚 practise doing this,B次元官网网址� said Gwilym. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a good craic.B次元官网网址�

Around half of the players at the club are Canadian and new to the sport, a unique selling point to Heather Mahardy, one of the clubB次元官网网址檚 founders.

B次元官网网址淢ost of the Vancouver teams only have one or two Canadian players per team, just because thereB次元官网网址檚 such a big Irish population in Vancouver, they donB次元官网网址檛 really have to do much outside recruiting to get players. Whereas thereB次元官网网址檚 a really small Irish population on the Island, so a big thing that makes our club unique is that we spend a lot of time trying to teach new people to play the game.B次元官网网址�

Gaelic football is a cross between handball, soccer and volleyball, with a dash of rugby thrown in. Players run with a spherical ball, having to bounce or kick it every four steps and pass the ball using their forearms like volleyball. The aim is to punt the ball into a soccer net, which scores three points, or over the crossbar, which scores one.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a real leveler as well because itB次元官网网址檚 such a weird sport B次元官网网址� I played rugby, thereB次元官网网址檚 soccer, thereB次元官网网址檚 basketball players, volleyball and handball players, thereB次元官网网址檚 a skill for everybody in it,B次元官网网址� said Brown.

Brown, Gwilym and McLellan all plan on sticking with the sport, with McLellan set to participate in a charity game in Vancouver on Sept. 30.

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