Sig Fest 2011: Gaelic Football

This week was the Sig Fest. Sig Fest is the week of the Sigerson Cup which according to the UCD website is "the premier Gaelic Football competition for Third Level Institutions, named after Dr George Sigerson, who was Professor of Biology in the Catholic University School of Medicine/University College Dublin." 

Gaelic Football is seen by some as the sport to play for Irish lads. There is a long history tied in with Irish nationalism and Gaelic Football. For a school paper I wrote about Irish nationalism, I ran into a lot of literature and readings that talked about how being a true Irishmen means playing GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) sports, one being Gaelic Football. Bottom line: Gaelic Football is an important and popular sport here.

Today I decided to go and watch the last game of the Sigerson Cup since it was being played at my campus. I'm not sure who the two teams playing were, I think one is UCD since the boys were wearing the school's colors but I got there late and didn't stay until the end of the game to figure it out.

During the first week I was here, the International Office teamed up with the UCD GAA to have a demonstration on how to play Gaelic Football. For about an hour, three guys showed international students the basic rules of Gaelic Football. We also had to practice it. Here is what I learned.

1. After taking 4 steps, the person holding the ball must "solo" the ball. This means that the person needs to drop the ball and kick the ball into back to himself before being able to take 4 more steps. If the person doesn't solo, he must bounce the ball. However, the ball can't be bounced twice in a row.

2. To pass the ball, the person has to hit it sort of like a volleyball.

3. To score, the person can kick the ball, or punch it with a closed fist over the crossbar and get 1 point or attempt to kick it into the net and get 3 points.

This webpage has a better explanation about the rules.

Here are some videos that I took of the game.

 

The most amusing part of the experience for me was a guy who yelled out after the referee blew his whistle after some tugging occurred. He said something along the lines of the boys being grown and being able to handle the aggressive play and the referee should just let them play.