A LONDON GAA team made up entirely of players of African, Asian and Indian descent this morning received a team talk from All Ireland final runner-up and Mayo full-back Ger Cafferkey as they prepare for their first real taste of GAA action.
Southall Shamrocks are making their first visit to Ireland as part of school trip that has seen them visit Croke Park and will this afternoon culminate in a game against Galway School in Pearse Stadium.
On the way to the game #Southallshamrocks pic.twitter.com/vcMN4I11nI
— Southall Shamrocks (@SShamrocks) February 18, 2014
The London side are made up of 11 students from West London’s Featherstone High School – where almost 99 per cent of pupils are from an ethnic minority.
After landing in Dublin yesterday, the team’s first stop was a visit to Croke Park, the home of the GAA, for a tour of the 82,000 capacity stadium.
Geography teacher-turned-GAA mentor Brendan Doherty said of his students’ first taste of Croker: “We made it to Croke Park and the lads loved the tour. The thing that hit them the most was the size of the pitch. We train on a soccer astro-turf, so they were really taken aback.”
The Co Sligo native added that whilst it was exciting for the all Asian/African GAA team to gain an insight into the historic sporting institution, the school was also keen for them to experience Ireland’s political history.
Led by guide Lorcan Collins, the students followed their Croke Park visit with a walking tour of the 1916 Easter Rising sites.
They were pointed to the spot where Padraig Pearse read the 1916 Proclamation, and were recommended to watch the film Michael Collins, before ending the tour in Dublin’s GPO on O’Connell Street.
#Southallshamrocks warming up #GAA pic.twitter.com/kXt72iU13f
— Southall Shamrocks (@SShamrocks) February 18, 2014
Several members of Southall Shamrocks hail from an Indian background, thus the tour was “very engaging” for the students to learn about the ties between both India and Ireland’s struggles for independence.
Interestingly, the school’s head teacher Gerry Wadwa is also of Indian heritage, whilst his mother is a Foxford, Co Mayo native.
With the history lesson completed and having arrived in Galway last night, the team are now focusing on the most anticipated part of their trip, playing against several Galway schools in Pearse Stadium at midday today.
“All they want to do is get on the pitch and test themselves against other Irish lads,” said Mr Doherty.
Pre match team meeting with @Caffatron #Southallshamrocks #GAA @SportFHS pic.twitter.com/eiwF58jmUG
— Southall Shamrocks (@SShamrocks) February 18, 2014
The inexperienced squad this morning received a team talk from 2012 All-star Cafferkey as they prepared for their big game.
The final leg of their Ireland tour will see the Southall Shamrocks round off their trip tomorrow with a training session with coaches at the Connacht Centre of Excellence before they board the return flight home.
With the trip being the first time many of the students set foot in Ireland, it is undoubtedly an overwhelming experience for those that have lived comfortably in the “Southall bubble.”
However, Mr Doherty pointed out that rather than being overawed by the many sites they had visited, when he asked one of the students what he thought of Ireland, “he said he couldn’t get over how clean the air was in Dublin.”
