All Britain Competition scheduled to take place in July

By Cian O’Connell

The All Britain Competition (ABCs) will take place at the Hazelwood Centre (Home of London Irish) in July.

In 2023 the successful event took place at Tír Chonaill Gaels in Greenford and McGovern Park, Ruislip.

Cormac Duffy (London GAA Community Development Administrator) and Ailish Gaughan (Hertfordshire GAA Community Development Administrator) are joint secretaries of the ABCs which continues to attract significant playing numbers.

“Last year we had to go to two venues l due to the growth of the event,” Duffy explains. “Tír Chonaill Gaels has been a great venue for us, the support they have given over the last 11 or 12 years, it has been fantastic.

“Even with the volunteers, we didn't have to ask the guys there to do stuff, they'd just do it straightaway. I think it was probably clear a couple of years ago that it had reached its capacity, and if the event was going to grow even more, we were going to have to look at other options.

“At Ruislip we had two good days on the Saturday and Sunday, but the biggest thing we got back from the feedback survey we sent to clubs and members was families being split across two venues.”

Gael Londain’s development as an underage club has been noteworthy in recent years. “Getting back to the one venue was always the ideal scenario, if it was possible,” he adds.

“When the opportunity to go to Hazelwood, a couple of the guys from Gael Londain approached us around September or October saying the venue would be available in the summer and that it might be ideal. So, we went down ourselves, we had a few site visits and it is a fantastic venue.

“We have more than enough space to be able to comfortably run the entire event in one venue - which probably solves our biggest problem from last year. It means we can have everybody, all families, players, parents, and clubs in the one place for the four days.”

The planning and plotting is well underway with Gaughan delighted with the enthusiasm of the stakeholders involved. “We are lucky with Gael Londain and the support they are giving us,” she says.

“They're a club that plays out of Hazelwood. Their volunteers have been brilliant for us, anything we've asked of them, much like TCG, nothing has been too big.

“They've been at every meeting, they've been helpful, if we're looking for sponsorship in local areas, they've really helped to try to get everything off the ground. We wouldn't have been able to get it going as smoothly without them, definitely.”

Clubs and schools from across Britain will participate in the four day tournament in early July. “In 2023, we had 3,428 players between the clubs and schools,” Duffy says.

“Our target is to try to hit 4,000. That is probably ambitious for this year, we will definitely see another increase this year. Hopefully over the next few years we can hit the 4,000 mark. To be getting 3,500 kids from 324 teams last year, you can just see that the interest is there. Hopefully we can keep that growing year on year.

“The support we get from our sponsors is great, ESB, O'Neill's, and the Irish Post are the three main sponsors. The support they give is huge and we have 10 to 15 secondary sponsors, companies involved.

“The financial support we get from them, the event wouldn't be possible to run anywhere near the size we can without people like that. It comes from the Irish community in Britain, people who have come over to set up businesses, they are rowing in behind the GAA.”

For young footballers and hurlers in Britain the ABCs remains a hugely important tournament in the GAA year according to Gaughan. “They are coming from all over the place,” she says.

“It is a big dedication, especially for the schools, who are only coming for one day. They are travelling maybe five or six hour round trips, it just shows how big it is in the calendar, that people make the effort to come to it.”

The All-Britain Competition takes place between July 4 and 7. For further details email secretary.abc.britain@gaa.ie