Pub League Starts Next Weekend!
I hope you are as excited as I am to get back on the pitch for Pub League. It has been too long since we’ve all been able to get together and play. Games are scheduled to start on July 11th at Eugene Burns fields and you can check your team’s schedule (here). One thing you will notice about the schedule this year is that hurling and football will both be played on Sundays.
Another thing you will notice is that teams will be sharing ref/officiating duties for both sports. Please do your best to be available for both your game and officiating duties when your team is scheduled to do so. It makes things run a lot easier when we have enough members ready to play/help on time. Since we have 7 teams for hurling this season we had to adjust the schedule and unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, this will require bye weeks for all teams.
Before we get started on the 11th it would be best to make sure you have everything ready to go when you get to the fields. Aside from having your standard playing equipment please make sure you have at least your own water bottle(s) and sunscreen.
With hurling and football on the same day some days may be long. A few other items you may consider bringing for game days are snacks, a chair, tent (something for shade), more water, a change of shoes/sandals, etc. I am looking forward to a fun season and can’t wait to see everyone back on the pitch.
You can view the entire pub league schedule here, and view each individual team’s schedule by visiting the team pages on our website. Woody White has also created a handy, printable schedule, so be sure to check that out as well!
Referee Training
Our own Brian Mathes will be hosting a virtual referee training course on July 14th at 8:30pm. Since all teams will be required to officiate games through the season and we will need hurlers to help with football and vice versa this is a great opportunity to learn all of the basics and rules for both sports. More details can be found here →
Nationals
With so many unknowns last year and at the beginning of this year the board decided not to officially send any teams to nationals this season. The plan is to host a full Pub League season for all of our members and to get the family back together. We are hoping to get things back to normal next year for our schedule and tournaments.
Before the USGAA’s deadline to submit teams to nationals the board was contacted by members who requested to travel to nationals independently to play for the Indy GAA. The board accepted this request and submitted it to the Heartland Division and USGAA asking if members from our club at different levels of play could participate at nationals with the stipulation of playing at Junior B or lower. This was a unique request for this year because the members interested to play come from various levels of play. The USGAA considered our members’ request for a few weeks and granted them to play this year at the Junior B level since there will be Junior A and Junior C players playing together.
This is a one-time situation that was led by our members and we wish them the best in Boston. If you are interested in playing in Boston or want to get more touches on the ball at their practices this summer contact Brogan Sheedy for more information.
We have received questions asking if the club has paid any fees/dues/money to send the team to Boston this year and the answer is no. Each player is covering their own expenses for travel and the tournament (as any normal year) and there are no registration fees directly affiliated with sending teams to Nationals so the club did not pay any additional fees/dues for these members to attend the tournament.
I hope everyone has a fun, and safe 4th of July, and I’ll see you on the pitch!