10 Interesting Facts about The GAA

In this article, we will talk about Facts about The GAA. GAA stands for Gaelic Athletic Association. It is an organization to promote sport and culture of Ireland. Its main focus is to promote Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders. To know more facts about the GAA check the list below.

Facts about the GAA 1: Basic Information

This organization was formed 130 years ago on November 1, 1884. The purpose of this organization is to promote Gaelic games, Irish culture and language. This Irish Spoken organization has 1,000,000 members.

Facts about the GAA 2: Competitions

The matches between an Irish national team against an Australian national team have been drawn from the Australian Football League. Due to excessive violence in the matches, the 2006 the International series between Australia and Ireland was called off. Find more facts about the Element Nickel here

Facts about the GAA 3: Cultural Activities

Besides sport, GAA also promotes Irish cultures. The cultural activities include running competitions in music, singing, dancing and storytelling. It is stated in the GAA’s Official Guide that the Association shall support Irish language, traditional Irish dancing, music, and other aspects of Irish culture.

Facts about the GAA 4: Grounds

The Association has many stadiums spread in Ireland. Nearly all clubs have their grounds. Their grounds have various capacities and utilities. The ground has function as a place to play the early rounds of the club championship. While a county ground is used to hold the latter rounds from quarter-finals to finals.

Facts about the GAA 5: Lists of Grounds

The GAA has many grounds scattered in Ireland. The biggest ground is Croke Park, while the next three biggest grounds are Semple Stadium, the Gaelic Grounds and  Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Facts about the GAA 6: Croke Park

The GAA has flagship venue called Croke Park. It was ranked as the top five stadiums in Europe by capacity. This 82,300 capacity stadium hosts the All-Ireland inter-county Hurling and Football Finals as the conclusion to the summer championships every September. On every St. Patrick’s Day, it holds the All-Ireland club football and hurling finals.

Facts about the GAA 7: Diversity and Community Outreach Initiatives

The GAA launched a Community Development Unit in November 2008. This community is responsible for “Diversity and Community Outreach initiatives”. Find more facts about the Element Neon here

Facts about the GAA 8: Winter Training Ban

The GAA made a controversial decision related to winter training. They adopted a rule in 2007 that banned collective training for inter-county players for a period of two months every winter. It was done because of their concerns about player burnout.

Facts about the GAA 9: GAA Social Initiative

Besides the sports project, GAA also launched an island-wide project called the “GAA Social Initiative.” The purpose is to address the problem of isolation in rural areas where older people have limited engagement with the community.

Facts about the GAA 10: Ladies‘ Gaelic Football 

Ladies ‘ Gaelic football is a team sport for women, very similar to Gaelic football, and co-ordinated by the Ladies’ Gaelic Football Association.

Hopefully those interesting Facts about the GAA will enrich your sources of reading about the GAA.