In one of the great European countries, Ireland, a sport so loved by its people has existed for many centuries. This sport is known as Gaelic football. It is one of Irelands most popular native sports. Gaelic football has had many changes made to it since it was first founded, which these changes are still practiced today. Gaelic football has a unique set of playing rules that sets it apart from any other sport played around the world.
Gaelic football was first recorded as a sport in the seventieth century, approximately in the year 1670 in Country Meath (Orejan). The rules of Gaelic football were different in that time period. Some differences were that a player was able to kick and catch the ball. However, these rules changed since that time. On November 1,1884, in Cold Park Dublin, the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded, which helped make specific rules and generate that sport into what it is known as today in Ireland (GAA).
This traditional Irish sport is played with two teams of fifteen players on a rectangular grass patch, that is roughly 135-145 meters in length and 80-90 meters wide (Coughlin). These fifteen players include one goalkeeper, six back fields, two midfield, and six forward players. The players have limited equipment. The classic adult male games are sixty minutes, with two thirty minute periods (GAA). The objective of Gaelic football is to score points and to get goals, by passing the ball to their team mates. They try to get a goal by throwing the ball in-between two posts that are 6.5 meters apart from each other, seven meters above the ground and with a crossbar 2.5 meters above the ground, with a net (GAA). A goal happens when the ball goes in between the post and is signalled with a green flag,...
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...North American sports, Gaelic football seems easy enough to play or watch. It has served for hundreds of years with some minor changes and is still an all time favourite in Ireland.
Works Cited
Coughlan, Ciaran . "About Gaelic Football." About Gaelic Football. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.
"Football." GAA.ie. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.
"football, Gaelic." World Encyclopedia. 2005, and "Gaelic football." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2013. "football, Gaelic." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, 1 Jan. 2005. Web. 20 May 2014.
Orejan, Jaime . "The History of Gaelic Football and the Gaelic Athletic Association ." History of Gaelic Football. The Sport Management and Related Topics Journal, n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.
"What is Gaelic Football - calgary-chieftons-gaa-canada." Calgary Chieftains - Official GGA Club Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.
America’s newfound favorite pastime, football, came from a bizarre chain of events. Football started when a soccer player got fed up with just kicking the ball, so he picked up the ball and ran to the goal. His actions of picking up the ball and running with it fathered a new European sport, rugby, which was soon brought over to American shores, and was altered slightly, the shape of the ball and a few other small rules. The sport became organized into a league and produced the NFL(National Football League). The NFL had a slow beginning, but has picked up popularity, currently having a $9 billion yearly revenue.
Lacrosse is a sport that was created by the Native Americans around the 1600s (5). The sport once known as stick ball to the Indians has evolved to a major sport across the world. Lacrosse was a sport that was a real major part of European culture before it made its way to America. It has just recently been picked up in the major ranks of colleges and even a professional level. So with the rise of this sport comes the rise of the preparatory phases to get ready for competition.
Football is the most popular sport in the world. It is backed by a long history that's incomparable to other popular sports in the world like basketball, volleyball, and tennis. In fact, two of North America?s favourite sports in American football and rugby were created based on the game we call 'soccer'. So why is it that the original game of football is not as nearly as famous as in North American than any other countries outside our continent? A real good reason for this is because soccer doesn't have a great tradition in North America, unlike other sports such as American football, hockey, or basketball. Also, the cultural difference makes soccer less rampant in North America because many of us can?t seem to be patient enough to watch a sport with no frequent excitement. This mostly involves a preferred team scoring numerous times during a match. There are also plenty of other exciting sports that North Americans love to watch and play. Thus, soccer is put in the middle of the backseat of a crammed van, a place where nobody wants to be in or even pay attention to.
American Football is a huge spectator sport where offensive and defensive players will use teamwork and perseverance to try and score more points than their opponent. Football is highly respected in America, where boys will try and pursue the dream of playing in the NFL (National Football Association) someday; but if you look at an average neighborhood, you will find that kids and adults of all ages love to go out and throw around the pigskin. (Lerner and Lerner 275). One thing Americans will take pride in is the college and NFL football teams they root for. People sit down with a beer and talk hours upon hours of football and two individuals can get in a heated discussion in the local sports store of whose sports team is better.
The lacrosse players would go up to each other and smack at each other’s sticks trying to dislodge the ball. The French named the game lacrosse which means the game of the stick. Sometimes a player would hit an opposing team’s player, severely injuring the person or breaking bones. There is even one account of a player dying. Anthony Aveni an editor for History.org says, “It is quite common to see someone crippled for the rest of his life who would not have had this misfortune but for his own obstinacy” (paragraph 9). The Indians did not have a goal so they used landmarks such as rocks and trees for a goal. Jane Claydon, an editor for Federation of International Lacrosse claims, “Some estimates have mentioned between one hundred and one hundred thousand players…. On the field at one time” (paragraph 2). There are tons of players. The fields were very extreme ranging anywhere from nine hundred yards to nine miles in length. Players at one end could not see the ball at the other end. The game would last from sun up to sun down many
In the earliest times of American Indian lacrosse, the game had few rules, if any. Lacrosse games would last for days, stopping at sunset and continuing the next day at sunrise. The fi...
Football can be traced by rugby and soccer. Walter Camp is the “Father of Football” (Bennett).The first American football game played in the 1860’s (Bennett). Football has a lot of history in the game. The rules are important to the game. The beginning of the National Football League is still going strong today. Strategies and formations of the game are important to study. Football is an aggressive sport and is one of the most played sports in the United States.
Players added many rules that changed the game, and each school interpreted them differently. In 1848, a group of school representatives met at Trinity College in Cambridge and drew up the first set of soccer rules (Brooks Clark, 1993). In 1863, representatives of English soccer clubs founded the English football clubs found the English Football Association.
Participation in sports and games has long been a part of Native culture. The most significant example of a sport invented and played by Natives is lacrosse. Lacrosse is still designated as the official sport of Canada despite the overwhelming popularity of hockey (http://canada.gc.ca). Lacrosse was one of many varieties of indigenous stickball games being played by Native Americans and Canadians at the time of European contact. Almost exclusively a male team sport, it is distinguished from other stick and ball games, such as field hockey or shinny, by the use of a netted racquet with which to pick the ball off the ground, throw, catch and vault it into or past a goal to score a point.
Not much is known about the origin of soccer. However, the Greeks and Romans played football and ball kicking games. The London Football Association developed the first sets of rules in 1863. British sailors and settlers brought the game to India, South America and Europe.
Games similar to soccer were played in China as early as 400 BC. In about 200 AD the Romans played a game in which two teams tried to score by advancing a ball across a line on the field. The Romans passed the ball to one another but they never kicked it. London children in about 1100 played a form of soccer in the streets. During the 1800’s the people of England played a game similar to soccer. Many rules changed and each person interpreted the rules differently. In 1848 a group of school representatives met at Trinity College in Cambridge and drew up the first of soccer rules. In 1863 English soccer clubs founded the Football Association. By the late 1800’s soccer began to spread to the rest of the world. The Canadian Soccer Association was established in 1912 while the United States Soccer Federation was set up in 1913.
Football is by all means an American sport. Since the day a baby is born in America whether it be a boy or a girl, one of the first words they learn to say is ball, and after a few months they add the word foot in front of the word ball, and by the time you know it your baby boy is playing football, and your little girl is cheering “Go Steeler’s go!” and without intention their cultural identity starts. As far back as I can remember, every year, uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends would gather at my family’s home to watch this event called theSuper Bowl. It was something that could not be missed, because if you did you were considered a lost cause.
12. No Christian End! The Beginnings of Football in America. Professional Football Researchers Association, 2012.
McCann et al. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1994, 95-109).
American Football is not merely a sport, its a culture. In the south football is in some ways a lifestyle. From the rivalries to the championships its truly one of the most exciting sports to have ever been created. This is why I love it so much, it is much more than just a game it has a much deeper meaning to it. From the outside looking in, many people do not fully realize the impact it has on each and every player throughout its history. Football has made me who I am today.