By Cian O’Connell

Re-formed in 2013, Geelong Gaels’ success story continues in Australia.

It has been a busy decade for Geelong Gaels, who are now thriving, fielding ladies teams and establishing a vibrant juvenile structure.

That has been crucial in the progression of the club. Chairperson John Reaney is delighted with the response in recent years. A decade ago Reaney and Nigel Maxey brought Gaelic Games back to Geelong. Developing homegrown talent has brought so much joy and momentum.

“The idea of the kids started up in about 2018, it really kicked off in 2018, the ladies section too, in that year,” Finglas native Reaney explains.

“Since then, the ladies and kids have thrived. The lads have gone well, but the kids section has gone well and the ladies section too. So, today we have 110 registered kids, we are averaging 80 to 90 kids every Sunday morning down at training through the summer here.

“We train every Sunday with a couple of competitions now and again, to keep things going. We are really seeing the kids section pay off because two or three of the lads have come through to play senior this year.

“A lot of the girls have come through to play at adult level in the last two or three years. That is the main thing we have got to do since 2018. We always reckoned the club wouldn't be around if we didn't start the kids and the ladies.”

Ultimately, it means that every Sunday morning a community gathers for football and fun. “It is exactly what you said - a community,” Reaney replies.

“My wife and I have met so many good people through the Gaels. Conor Kelly, who is Treasurer, he is godfather to my son. Another family, Mick and Paula Hardy, who are from Donegal, they are godparents to my daughter. We all met through the Gaels.

“On Sunday mornings we catch up, the kids run around. It is a meeting place on Sunday mornings, talking about home. The good thing about the split season, we are talking about the club hurling and football. The hour and a half on a Sunday morning, to catch up with everybody, it is just amazing.”

A proud Erin’s Isle man, Reaney fondly recalls the daring run to the 1998 AIB All-Ireland Club SFC Final. Corofin claimed the Andy Merrigan Cup on St Patrick’s Day, but Erin’s Isle embarked on an adventure that remains cherished.

“We probably shouldn't have made it,” Reaney laughs. “Castlehaven blew the semi-final, we got two late goals. They were five points up and Castlehaven went for a goal with a minute or two to go, they hit the post.

“The ball went straight down the other end - a goal. Two points down, they kicked the ball out and it went back in. It was that story of the ball hitting one post, hit the other post and came back out. It was daylight robbery.”

Nonetheless the memories of that campaign are still etched in Reaney’s mind. Now a decade and a half in Australia, Reaney highlights Ryan Healy’s work in the Geelong Gaels juvenile set-up as being critical. “Ryan is our youth development officer, he is the head of our kids section,” Reaney says.

“By chance we struck gold with Ryan coming into the club. Ryan has Irish heritage, maybe fifth or sixth generation so he has always held on to that connection. We came across Ryan in maybe late 2016 or 2017, a local schoolteacher.

“He really wanted to get involved in the club, playing too, and heading up the kids section. In the last two or three years he has set up a local inter schools competition in Geelong, a one day event.

“It was played about four or five weeks ago with five or six schools, who all had three or four teams. So, you had girls and boys, U12, U14, and U16 - all on the one day.”

Those types of occasions make the sheer hard work worth the effort. Just over 10 years ago Geelong Gaels was relaunched. “We started off in 2012, but we really got affiliated with insurance and everything in 2013,” Reaney recalls.

“We really got going in 2013, but we found it really hard because we are in Geelong to attract Irish players. We had to get Aussies that wanted to play, we did get a good few in the door for the first few years, but it was really hard against the Melbourne teams.

“It was senior against junior B at times, it was tough, but we kept it going for three or four years. Then we had a deep look into ourselves to see what are we going to do?”

The answer was to invest time and energy into the underage ranks. Availing of funding from GAA sources and elsewhere was crucial. “We definitely tapped into the system, we got portable goals, kids hurls, kids helmets, bibs, cones, basically everything just to get us going,” he says.

“We don't want to be taking away from anyone else, so we are good, for now. We have also got small little government grants here in Geelong, we tap into a few of them as we go along, but the main ones have been from Ireland. They have been unreal for us.”

Logistically it can be a challenge to organise matches for youth players. “As we are the only club in Geelong, it is more training than games,” Reaney says.

“We have introduced intra club games between the kids. We had our Youth Championships with Young Melbourne coming up to play U6, U8, U10, U12, and U14 all the way up. It was predominantly football.

“There is a new club on the opposite side to Geelong, Peninsula Harps, they are getting going. Last year Australasia got a Féile going, it was held in Adelaide. Ourselves, Young Melbourne, Adelaide, and Western Australia all had teams.

“It is going to be every two years because Australia is a big spot. We travelled over with all age groups.

“In Australasia girls have to be 14 to play senior and the lads have to be 16. So, we have seen a lot of girls come in. We played the regional games a few weeks ago, we had two adult ladies teams. None of them were Irish, they were all Australian.

“With the lads we had two teams, it was 50-50. As we go into 2024 we should have six 16 year olds come through to play with us, which is amazing. That is what we needed.”

The emergence of new footballers offers hope for the future. Geelong Gaels are beginning to stir. “Around late 2017 we were going to Melbourne, it was like senior versus junior b,” Reaney says about the schedule in the adult ranks.

“We were going to games, we weren't even getting scores. At that time, pre Covid, there was a lot of Irish in Melbourne. A lot of the Melbourne clubs only had one team. So, I really pushed for an intermediate competition, we got it going for 2018 which was great for us.

“The Melbourne teams were able to have two teams, we dropped down and we got a few wins which was great. We probably play six games against them teams a year.

“It is spread out over a long time. The Melbourne teams are getting strong again, their second teams are quite good. We are still playing football, we don't want to be getting hammered.”

A vibrant club has been stitched together. The connections and friendships formed matter deeply. “The vast majority are Aussies with very little connection to Ireland at all,” Reaney remarks about the underage players.

“They could be fifth or sixth generation Irish, but we did strike it lucky when we first got going as a club. We got involved with a footie club, an AFL club, we tapped into their kids at the start.

"They found the game similar to AFL with no tackling, as such, which the parents liked, especially the girls.

“Maybe we'd have three or four per cent Irish people with their kids, but the vast majority are Aussies. They absolutely love it.”