FREE Gaelic Sports Clinic
Not sure if your child would enjoy Gaelic sports? Or know what they even are? This is the perfect opportunity for kids to try them first-hand...at no cost! Coaches and youth players from the Maine Gaelic Sports Alliance will lead kids through stations demonstrating the skills used in Hurling and Gaelic Football, the fastest games on grass!
Open to boys and girls ages 5-13. No equipment is necessary to play; just wear comfortable sports-playing attire.
When: Saturday, February 9, & Saturday, April 13
Time: 5-6pm
Where: Westbrook Community Center Gymnasium
Fee: FREE
No registration necessary. Just show-up and enjoy!
Questions? Contact Greg Post at gpost@westbrook.me.us or call 854-0676.
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What is Gaelic Football?
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It’s soccer, American football, basketball and rugby all rolled into one! Gaelic football is a sport played between two teams of up to 15 players each on a rectangular grass field. The objective of the sport is to score points by passing the ball through the other team's goals. Players advance the football, a spherical leather ball, up the field with a combination of carrying, bouncing, kicking, hand-passing, and soloing (dropping the ball and then toe-kicking the ball upward into the hands). In the game, two types of scores are possible: points and goals. A point is awarded for kicking or hand-passing the ball over the crossbar, signaled by the umpire raising a white flag. A goal is awarded for kicking the ball under the crossbar into the net, signaled by the umpire raising a green flag. The sport, a form of football derived from traditional Irish ball games, is mainly played in Ireland, although associations exist in other areas such as Great Britain and North America.
What is Hurling?
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The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for over 3,000 years, and is thought to be the world's fastest field team game in terms of game play. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, number of players, and much terminology. There is a similar game for women called camogie. It shares a common Gaelic root with the sport of shinty, which is played predominantly in Scotland. The object of the game is for players to use a wooden stick called a hurley to hit a small ball called a sliotar between the opponents' goalposts, either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for a goal, which is equivalent to three points. The sliotar can be caught in the hand and carried for not more than four steps, struck in the air, or struck on the ground with the hurley. It can be kicked or slapped with an open hand (the hand pass) for short-range passing. A player who wants to carry the ball for more than four steps has to bounce or balance the sliotar on the end of the stick and the ball can only be handled twice while in his possession. Baiting people is allowed although body-checking or shoulder-charging is illegal.
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