Middletown Valley Gaelic Football youth club completes second official season
MIDDLETOWN, Md. — Last year about this time, we featured a new youth sports club imported from Ireland: Gaelic Football! The Middletown Valley Gaelic Football club held its second official season this past summer at Fountaindale South Park soccer field, with 25-30 kids participating in eight training sessions throughout June and July. Kids ranging 4-10 years old enjoyed learning the basic skills, completing drills, and scrimmaging.
Gaelic Football combines the skills from sports that kids are already familiar with – soccer, basketball, volleyball – and puts them together into a fun and exciting sport with a high engagement level allowing all kids to participate. This year, the club split the players into two separate age groups/times (ages 4-6 and 7-10) to better structure the practices for age-appropriate drills and games.
The older age learned all the skills of Gaelic football and competed in skill challenges against each other along with scrimmaging, where they really showcased a fine understanding of the game and displayed a high level of skill. The younger group was more focused on learning the basic skills in a fun-oriented way. They also scrimmaged the last couple of practices and did really well. Volunteers included Brendan McCarrick, John Headley, Nick Rutten, and Dan Dassoulas.
Parents Sung & Christina Pak said, “We chose to have our children {Leland and Ember} participate in Gaelic Football because it was a community-driven program that promoted fun and exercise. Pat and Adrienne were very welcoming to our family and allowed us to be a part of the program without any prior experience. It was an exciting and very positive experience for our children to learn a new sport.”
Nine-year-old Leland said, “We learned the rules of Gaelic Football, practiced skills, and played matches. I liked both kicking and passing the ball. It is very active and fun. We had a shooting contest! I found it more challenging and fun than soccer.”
Six-year-old Ember said, “It was more like soccer and football mixed together! It was really fun running around and being on our team. I liked going every week, and the coaches were really nice.”
Program leader Patrick McCarrick said, “We were all very impressed with the skill level and understanding of the game, especially since most kids have never played it or watched the game. Their skills improved very quickly over the summer, and it was fun to watch. The kids all seemed to really enjoy it as well. We’re looking forward to the next season, and hopefully the club continues to grow. Our goal for next year is to have an official match day against the Washington, DC, youth team.”
Ember said, “I can’t wait for the next season!”
For more information, visit mvgaelic.wixsite.com/mvgfc or Facebook @Mvgaelic.
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