Porto Gaels making swift progress

By Cian O’Connell

With playing numbers increasing and momentum generated, these are encouraging times for Porto Gaels.

The fact that the journey is filled with fun merely adds to the feel-good factor surrounding the burgeoning GAA club in Portugal. From a famous sporting family in Armagh, Niamh McKinstry is delighted with how the last 18 months or so has unfolded.

Assistance and guidance were greatly received, and Porto Gaels’ training sessions on a Saturday are providing a valuable outlet. “When we first started, we were quite small, we'd a lot of help from Lisbon, to help with promotion,” McKinstry explains.

“We hosted a little tournament with Vigo, and we made a good connection with the Keltoi Vigo guys, who helped us. They invited us up to play in a tournament in March.

“The boys played against teams and so did the girls, and they were very successful winning their matches. The boys were successful too, to an extent, but we had a really good time at the tournament.”

So, the positive developments in recent months augurs well for Porto Gaels. “Last year, we'd very small numbers, we'd maybe 10 at some of the trainings,” she adds.

“Sometimes, we didn't have any sessions because people had other commitments, but this year we'd have a minimum of 25 turning up for training sessions which we host every single week.

"We were previously using Oporto British Schools training grounds, but we've actually had to move to Parque da Cidade.

"We can do our training sessions there because it's a much bigger field. We can play mini tournaments after each of the training sessions which we have on Saturdays. The numbers have exponentially grown which has been fantastic.

“In the summertime we were doing midweek sessions, but now we're mainly just doing Saturday training. It seems to be the most popular. We've people from different nationalities coming to the training sessions, not just Irish. We're the majority.

“The second is actually Portuguese people. We've quite a few US, Scottish, Italian, Greeks, and Brazilians. We've a lot of different nationalities that are interested in the sport. They become really good players.”

Ultimately, Porto Gaels hope to commence playing competitively soon. “That's our aim, we've got a two-to-three-year plan,” McKinstry replies.

“We're working with Galicia at the moment. On October 3, they're coming to visit us to play a little tournament against our male and female teams. The idea is that we'd get into a league with the southern Galician teams, they have an amazing set-up with a flourish league, male and female teams.

“We want to be able to establish ourselves and an identity in Porto to maybe get into their southern league. It would be fantastic to get into a league.

“It definitely is feasible, to get to Vigo it's a two-hour drive. So, within the radius of Porto, we wouldn't want to be travelling further than two to three hours. All those teams are within that. They'd be able to come to us too.

“There would be good competition and there is a good camaraderie between Vigo and Porto because they've been helping us out an awful lot over the last 18 months.”

A community is being built which is another satisfying element for all associated with Porto Gaels. “It's fantastic, especially with the Irish diaspora coming over, everybody wants to meet people, they want to be able to have a sense of home too,” McKinstry explains.

“It's easy and very sociable for people to connect. The Portuguese are like the Irish, they're very outgoing, it's a good mix of people. When people play team sports, everybody supports each other. If training goes well and the team supports each other, there is bound to be growth.

“You have post training session analysis at the local beach bar, XOYO. They've generously sponsored us and given discounts on beverages and food whenever we go there. We also do social events like karaoke nights, team quizzes, and at the end of this month we're actually hosting a little music event with some local bands.

“Some of the guys from the team are playing, too. It's just a little social fundraising event to get more numbers and for people to socialise and have a little fun.”

McKinstry is encouraged about the future of the club. “Social media has been very beneficial for us,” she says. “We set up an Instagram account and it's a place people look, if they're travelling, they'll look to see if there is a GAA club. A lot of people have found us that way and then through word of mouth.

“Once people have joined, they might bring one or two friends, and it has multiplied like that. There has been a big growth, especially over the last 12 months, compared to what we were like this time last year.”

As part of the International Player Exchange Programme, Derry’s Anton Tohill delivered a coaching session recently in Porto. “He was a great ambassador for helping the local people and those who hadn't played before,” McKinstry says.

“We'd a huge turnout for his training session. He took us through the kicking of a ball, how to score a point, how to block. That built up everybody's confidence that session.

“From then, we've seen growth in numbers, they're not scared about doing a solo or not scared going to defend the ball. They learned the skill properly.

“We hired out the local rugby club; we had him for two hours. It was pretty intense; he put us through our paces which was good.”

Friendships have been forged and McKinstry is thoroughly enjoying the Porto Gaels adventure. “I'm still loving it,” she says.

“Everybody has got something positive from it. That's because it's a really positive environment. The growth in numbers shows that.

“We'd also love to get a more permanent base for our training sessions. We're training in a local park, if we could find a training facility for us to permanently train, it would be fantastic.”

That’s the next mission to accomplish.