2026 National Dads & Lads blitzes show the power of inclusion

By John Harrington

The growing popularity of social Gaelic games was very much in evidence at the 2026 National Dads & Lads Blitzes.

55 teams participated over two weekends this month at the GAA National Games Development Centre in Abbottstown in a relaxed and social environment.

Dads & Lads provides an opportunity for men, predominantly aged 40+ to get out and play football or hurling, stay active, meet new people and remain connected with their local GAA club.

A number of clubs participated in the National Blitz days for the first time, including Steelstown Brian Og’s from Derry.

“It was brilliant,” says Steelstown Brian Og’s Dads & Lads founding member, Conall Sweeney.

“We were buzzing even in the weeks leading up to it. We rented a bus down and had a great day's craic.

“Nobody beat each other up and it was all encouragement. It's a different type of football from competitive football and gives another option to lads who don't want to play competitive football anymore but still want to have a strong connection with the club and have a kick around once a week.

“Even for myself, as much as I'm involved in the club committee and have been for the last couple of years, without the Dads & Lads football there was still a bit of a disconnect with the club. I've always been used to playing so it was great to be able to still have the opportunity.

“For 11 of our fellas Abbottstown was their first experience of putting on a Steelstown jersey and playing in games and they absolutely loved it.

“They'd be going to Go Games and they'd be going to blitzes with their kids and not really feeling part of it but that was their chance to feel part of it. It was a great experience for them.”

Since starting their Dads & Lads programme this year Steelstown have quickly grown their numbers to around 40, the vast majority of who would never have played senior football for the club.

One of the unexpected positive outcomes for many clubs that get involved in Dads & Lads is that it brings in new people who then go on to make valuable contributions to the club in other ways, and this has proven to be the case also for Steelstown.

“Those boys would never have never played Gaelic because Derry City is such a soccer stronghold,” says Sweeney. “They never thought they'd play Gaelic but all of a sudden now they're big GAA heads and are looking for jobs in the committee.

“We've roped boys in to do our big fundraising event at the end of the year so it's really taken off.

“A lot of those same boys who have never been involved in Gaelic before have gone out and got sponsors from local businesses and we're now getting our own jerseys for the Dads & Lads.

“That's how invested these boys are. These are boys who've never bought a county jersey, never bought anything from O'Neill's, never bought anything from McKeever's or anything.

“Now all of a sudden they're fully invested and they're buying their Steelstown gear and they're buying from the club shop and they're dressed in the same gear as their kids and they're buzzing.

“It just shows how important it is for a club to have that social outlet for playing so you can keep people involved and they don’t drop away.

“Sometimes the club isn't just about football but if there's a level of football that'll at least keep you involved then all the better.”

The Whitehall Colmcilles hurlers were one of three clubs who participated in the National Blitzes who were presented with Na Laochra Awards for making a particularly positive contribution to the day along with Leixlip St. Mary’s from Kildare and St. Paul’s from Down.

Whitehall’s social hurling group has been together for the past four years and as well as providing a social and sporting outlet for their players it has also had a positive impact on underage coaching in the club.

“Myself and about half the rest of the team never played Gaelic games, we would have grown up playing soccer, basketball or whatever,” says team coordinator, Alan Coleman.

“We came into it because our kids were involved in the club. Four of the lads were mentoring teams, having never played hurling themselves.

“They would have been able to teach kids how to kick a ball, and positioning, and conditioning and running, and all that kind of good stuff, but they would never have played hurling themselves.

“We had one mentor who grew up playing hurling in Kilkenny and he encouraged the rest of them to come up.

“So now they've got four years playing hurling every week under their belts and can give much more clarity and much more understanding to the kids, as opposed to your usual clichés of two hands on the hurl and get stuck in.

“To be able to give them a better understanding of what their kids are going through, especially if they've never done it themselves, is invaluable.

“Suddenly they're out there, they're pucking the ball to the kids, and they're hitting off their left and right after a year of being out the back and trying to develop their own skills in their 40s and 50s.”

The Whithall Colmcilles experience is typical of all GAA for Dads & Lads teams in so far as it’s about more than sport, it’s about inclusion and feeling part of a community that promotes good mental as well as physical health.

“The men's sheds have become a very popular social outlet for older men and Dad's and Lads and social hurling is nearly like a stepping stone before the men's sheds,” says Coleman.

“It's a brilliant social outlet that doesn't involve sitting on a high stool and the whole social hurling scene in Ireland now is great.

"Maastricht Gaels are running a blitz in four weeks' time on the 24th of October and 62 social hurlers will fly out from Dublin on the Friday, play the blitz on Saturday, and fly back on the Sunday.

“So that's been a nice aspect to it on top of the fact that it's just great craic. It's been a new lease of life for loads of us.

"To be back in a dressing-room and playing a team sport again is just absolutely brilliant, there's nothing like it.

“We train at eight on Friday night and it's the end of the week where your whole week of absolute manure disappears because you just can't focus on anything else apart from the hurling.”