Almost 2,000 boys and girls took part in the All-Hertfordshire Competition earlier this month.
By John Harrington
2025 has been a boom year for Gaelic games in Hertfordshire.
The recent All Herts Competition which is a festival of Gaelic games for club and school teams vividly illustrated that.
Almost 2,000 boys and girls aged from U-7 to U-17 took part which was around 600 more than in 2024.
Much of the growth was at primary school level with 30 schools taking part compared to just six the previous year.
Hertfordshire GAA’s new Community Development Administrator, Keith Jackman, has played a huge role in that expansion thanks to his tireless work since his appointment last December.
Since the start of the year he’s coached 1,900 children in 26 primary schools and worked hard to develop vibrant school and club links that should bear a lot of fruit in the coming years.
“When I started the role in December myself and the county board looked at last year and where we could improve and we noticed there was a massive gap in our schools, there just wasn't enough schools attending the All Herts,” says Jackman.
“So I got a map out and we started working hard on affiliating schools with clubs because that's key. We looked at our clubs and the schools that were in their area.
“I'm on my own as a CDA and I'm covering a lot of area - we've clubs and schools in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and the outskirts of london down Enfield way - so I figured the best thing to do would be to get teachers trained up on our Introduction to Gaelic Games course so they could bring it in as part of the curriculum.
“When we started we had 26 active schools on the data base and we now have 77. I'll be hitting around 84 by the end of December, I'd say. The progress we've made in the last five months has been absolutely crazy.
“If we keep going the way we're going as a county and we keep getting into these schools then Hertfordshire GAA will just keep growing and growing and growing, without a shadow of doubt.
“There are a lot of schools we haven't been to yet that are asking us to introduce Gaelic games for them too."
Hertfordshire Community Development Administrator, Keith Jackman, pictured at the 2025 All Herts Competition with three young participants.
Jackman is helped by part-time coaches who come from local clubs to deliver a six week programme in the schools they visit, and their priority is to make the playing of Gaelic games in those schools sustainable in the long-term.
This is achieved by training more and more teachers in the schools to coach Gaelic games.
“We have teacher training courses coming up which are crucial I have one on July 12 with 20-plus teachers attending, all from different schools,” says Jackman.
“If we can get that off the ground it will be huge because that will free me up to go to schools that haven't had Gaelic games yet.
“The teachers that we're training would have no previous background in Gaelic games. The agreement is when I go to the school that they shadow me for six weeks and then after that I will supply the teachers with all the resources they need - the training cards, skill cards, games, a schedule for them to follow, and they will carry it on.
“I actually prefer now going into schools where no-one knows our games because everyone is learning at the same time and there's no-one there saying you're doing this wrong or that wrong.
“The speed with which they pick up the game is unbelievable because they're all learning at the same time. They enjoy it because it's completely new to them. I think that's why there's such a big uptake in it.
“Soccer and rugby is dominant here but when you go into the schools they only have one team and you'd have 60 kids going for a squad of 15 so most of them aren't getting selected.
“So we come in as what they call an 'alternate sport' that caters for everyone and there are even kids now doing Gaelic games as part of their GCSEs which is just huge, it's the equivalent of the Junior Cert back home. They can pick a sport as part of it and a lot of them are now picking Gaelic games.”
Happy faces at the 2025 All Herts Competition.
The inclusivity of Gaelic games isn’t just a point of attraction for the children, but also for their parents.
Jackman has made a point of engaging with parents and impressing upon them that Gaelic games provides a community as well as a sporting outlet for children and parents alike.
“Yeah, the parents love it, that's another key thing. We opened up our primary school competitions to the parents and most of them would have had no previous idea of Gaelic games apart from seeing it on TV, and they're just astounded that it's in their school and loving that their kids are playing it because our primary school competitions are so inclusive, you have to have boys and girls in your squad.
“The inclusiveness that we have in our games for these boys and girls is like nothing else in any other sport in the UK. The game is for everyone and the parents can see that.
“That is the key thing. A lot of schools don't like parents coming to within school programme competitions but we specifically ask that the parents come so they can see what the GAA is about.
“The feedback from the parents is that their kids love it. They absolutely love it. I've had girls and boys come up to me with their parents who don't normally play many sports but I think the inclusiveness where you have girls and boys mixed together on the same teams and everyone is learning at the same time is something they really enjoy.
“The structure of the plan that we put in, the six week programme, I think it's a fantastic programme. When we go into the schools we focus on one skill at a time.
“We have a fun warm up game, there's one skill and then we introduce the skill, practice the skill, demonstrate the skill and then we put the skill into a fun game and the kids seem to love it. “
Gaelic games in Britain was traditionally the preserve of Irish migrants, but that’s no longer the case.
With not as many ready made Irish-born players migrating to England anymore, clubs now see the value in the sustainability of developing their own players right through the player pathway from nurseries to senior teams.
Hertfordshire GAA clubs have put a big emphasis in developing their own young players in recent years.
Most clubs now have very solid foundations in place, and Jackman is confident Gaelic games in Hertfordshire will only go from strength to strength in the coming years.
“We're putting a big emphasis on developing our homegrown talent,” says Jackman. “The model of the Irish man coming over to work is a thing of the past. Even the Irish children in the schools are probably third generation Irish.
“It's a lot of work but I'm really invested in it and so is the county board and we’ve gotten great support also from the provincial council.
“It's a collective effort. The clubs are buying into it which is fantastic. Once everyone buys into something only good things can happen.
“There's so much potential it's mind-boggling. I have a map with little pins in it. What schools we have been in and what schools have we not been in yet.
“The ambition is to develop a well-structured machine where everything is running itself from our schools, into our clubs, and into our academy teams. Where we're completely focused on home-grown talent and the clubs have enough kids and enough coaches to coach the kids.
“That will then filter in to our academy set-up where we have a new player and coaching pathway where we are looking at all our academy teams to be homegrown and feeding into a homegrown county team like London do with their junior team.
“I would like to think we can do the same here. We have just as much potential in Hertfordshire as London if I can get the support from the county board which I am getting and the provincial council have also been hugely supportive too.
“The clubs in Hertfordshire are growing. We have three clubs now who would have 200 plus kids from U-7 Go Games up to Under 11s and then right through the player pathway from U-13 to U-17.
“There’s no reason why that sort of growth can’t continue, the potential here is huge.”