New South Wales GAA finally have a home of their own

By John Harrington

For the first time since New South Wales GAA was formed in 1949, they finally have a proper home of their own.

Thanks to a very fruitful partnership with Blacktown City Council in Western Sydney, they recently took out a 50-year lease on three playing pitches in Whalan Reserve, and that’s just Phase One of a very ambitious development plan.

Phase Two will be the development of two more full-size playing pitches, and Phase Three will be the building of a state-of-the-art clubhouse that will also serve as a community hub with a hall and kitchen so events can be hosted there.

Round 2 of the NSW League saw the first matches played at the new grounds, and it felt like a seismic day in the history of New South Wales GAA.

“The players can't get over the quality of the pitch surface they're now playing on, they’re as good as Croke Park,” says New South Wales GAA Chairperson Cóilín Ó'Dálaigh.

“The grounds are fantastic and there's acres of space for parking.

“The club-house we're using for now has four changing rooms and a shop, so everything you need.

“For six months of the year we have sole use of the grounds. We play in winter here and cricket plays in the summer, it has all just worked out fantastically.”

Blacktown is a fitting new home for New South Wales GAA because it already has strong Irish links.

It’s twinned with Enniscorthy in Wexford due to a shared history. Enniscorthy is overlooked by Vinegar Hill which was the site of the 1798 Rebellion’s bloodiest battle.

The first battle fought on Australian soil between government troops and rebel forces took place in Blacktown in 1804 and also became known as the battle of Vinegar Hill because the ringleaders of the rebels were Irish.

New South Wales GAA’s new home in Blacktown is very close to Penrith, home of Penrith Gaels Irish Club, so there’s already a strong Irish and GAA presence in the area.

Ó'Dálaigh is confident that in the coming years as New South Wales GAA really makes Blacktown their home, that the local population will find themselves drawn more and more to Gaelic games.

“There's a community out there that are already starting to come across,” he says.

“There's constantly cricket and constantly rugby on the other pitches and they're all coming across to have a look and they're amazed by what they're seeing.

“We had the Mayor of Blacktown City himself, Brad Bunting, out last Sunday and he just couldn't get over the numbers we had, and he couldn't get over the games themselves, especially the hurling and camogie.

“Normally there's nothing on those pitches in the winter season so it's just so great for them as a Council to now see the pitches being used in the off-season of the cricket.”

Mayor Bunting and the Blacktown City Council have been hugely enthusiastic supporters of New South Wales GAA’s move to Whalan Reserve.

Phase 2 of the development will cost an estimated six million Australian dollars, and if New South Wales GAA can contribute 50% of those costs then Blacktown City Council will apply for State and Federal Government grants for the other 50%.

New South Wales GAA will have already fundraised one and a half million dollars and Ó Dálaigh is hopeful they’ll be able to source the remainder of their 50% through DFA and GAA grants.

Securing a ready-made new home with the capacity for further development in the coming years couldn’t come at a better time for them because more and more players are joining their clubs every year.

“Our numbers are going through the roof,” says Ó Dálaigh. “Last year we had 1,780 registered players and we had outgrown our old facilities.

“We have over 400 kids playing now and the Dads and Lads and Gaelic for Mothers and Others has really taken off as well.

“We've put an awful lot of work into youth development. Historically we haven't had that tradition where the kids would be growing up and then playing senior for the GAA clubs.

“With so much Irish migrating here there was always a ready-made supply of players and with the variety of sports that children play here there are lots of other options for them.

“But what we're really gearing everything for now is to develop our youth structures and bring through home-grown players all the way up to senior level.

“We want the kids to be the future here as much as the Irish moving to Australia. A lot of people who come here come out on holidays visas and stay for a year or maybe three years maximum and then they go, and that's why we have invested so heavily in kids GAA because we want something more long-term and sustainable.”

For the many volunteers who have given so much to New South Wales GAA over the years, the move to Blacktown is a real pinch me moment.

They finally have the permanent home they’ve always craved, and with that comes the guarantee of a very bright future.

“It's absolutely huge for us,” says Ó Dálaigh. “There's a group of older blokes who come out every Sunday to watch the games.

“I was talking to one of them recently, Denis Foley from Kerry who's 86 or 87, and he's just blown away by it.

“He's been involved in the GAA here since whenever he arrived and he just can't get over how well it's going and the new home we now have.

“It's just a dream come through when you think about it and what it means for the future of New South Wales GAA.

“It will fulfil all our needs for both the present and the future. We're 78 years old this year and we never had anywhere to call a home so it's fantastic that we're finally in this position to have a home for New South Wales GAA.”