Gaelic Football in Cayman Islands

A couple of weeks ago, one of my mates on island asked me to join their Gaelic football team which plays in the local Sunday league every two weeks. My knowledge of Gaelic was limited to a few seconds ever so often while flicking channels on cable, so I joined the team as a total novice at the game. Gaelic football on island is more than just a game, it is a chance for the Irish community plus other communities interested in anything Irish to socialize, play and generally make merry. There is both a men and women’s league so everyone can participate.

Having played several games over the past few weeks, I now have a healthy respect for the game and its players, you really have to be fit. Whereas in say, soccer you tend to mark spaces, in Gaelic football it is man-to-man marking throughout the game which means that you cannot slack off, even for a few seconds. Also, I can genuinely say that when playing Gaelic football it feels is like you are playing soccer, rugby, basketball and volleyball at the same time. This means that you have to be fairly agile to be an effective player. All the games are played at the Rugby club in South Sound every two weeks and after the games