Author: Kyle Keesling

Event Reminders for the Week of 4/17

Good morning folks! This week is packed with a number of great club events so I wanted to take a quick moment to remind everyone of what’s happening.

Wednesday, April 20th – Practice – Broad Ripple Park

Now that we’ve (hopefully) got the last snow of the spring out of the way let’s cross out fingers for a nice practice this week at Broad Ripple Park. Training starts at 6:30pm with Gaelic Football first, followed by Hurling.

Friday, April 22nd – Indy GAA Ladies Social – Bier Brewery on 65th St.

Let’s get together for an evening of fun before pub league games begin. Meet some current players and learn about Gaelic games & our club. If you have questions please email Claire Lane. The event starts at 7pm.

Saturday, April 23rd – Jersey Release Party – Books & Brews Mothership

Get a chance to meet up with your teammates before your first week of matches and see this year’s jerseys while supporting one of our great sponsors. The event starts at 4:30pm and the venue is family friendly. Also if you can’t make it don’t worry, you can grab your jersey from your captains on game day.

Sunday, April 24th – Pub League Week 1 – Eugene Burns Fields

After 2 years without Indy GAA Pub League matches in April we are back! Games will be at 10am, 11am, and 12pm. If you’re interested in Mug Club, talk to Brian Mathes.

What’s an Indy GAA Draft Party like?

The Indy GAA Draft party has become a tradition over the past 10+ years, but sometimes it’s easy for us old-timers to assume everyone knows what these types of events are, but in reality there are many folks newer to the club, or those who have yet to join us that may be interested in knowing a little bit about it. With that I figured it was worth providing a brief overview for the uninitiated.

The actual draft takes place in a sequestered location. The captains for each team convene to choose their teams using a variety of strategies and methodologies to ensure they translate the perfect team on paper to the championship team on the field.

With that said, we don’t think of this event being held solely for draft, after all, we do call it a party!

This event is really intended to build excitement around the upcoming season and get members both old and new reacquainted and re-energized after a winter away from the pitch. All other members outside of the draft room have a chance to relax, mingle, and pontificate as to what the teams will look like for the upcoming year.

After the teams have been selected the captains emerge to announce their picks and so ensues the strategizing and game-planning for the season to come.

Details for this Year’s Event

If that sounds up your alley we hope you’ll join us for the 2022 Draft Party coming up on Sunday, February 20th at 4pm at Centerpoint Brewing.

All are welcome to attend, even if you’re not registered to play, so we encourage you to bring friends and family. If you intend to play and would like to be entered into the draft please make sure you register no later than February 16th!


Drafts Over the Years

Also, please take a second to check out the photos below as the links to some of the photo albums I was able to pull up from years past. Over the years the event has been held at a number of different places, including the Blarney Stone Pub, Santorini’s Greek Kitchen, Flat 12 Bierworks, the Hard Rock Cafe, Triton Brewing, and as of the last few years Centerpoint Brewing. Flipping though these photos was a definitely a nice little walk down memory lane, and I hope they are for you as well.

2021 Award Winners

Our annual awards banquet was this past weekend, where we announced player awards for achievements both on and off the field. This year’s winners are:

  • Club Person of the Year – Chris Burrows
  • Male Hurling Player of the Year – Brian Church
  • Female Hurling/Camogie Player of the Year – Kelsey Alcorn
  • Male Football Player of the Year – Paul Flynn
  • Female Football Player of the Year – Jillian Beyke
  • Hurling/Camogie Rookie of the Year – Armando Magallanes
  • Football Rookie of the Year – Kevin McCarthy
  • Hurling/Camogie Most Improved Player – Clayton Tsang
  • Football Most Improved Player – Brett Mahoney
  • Referee of the Year – Tim Riley
  • Mentor of the Year – Brien Shoemaker

For more photos of the evening (both edited and non) check out our Flickr gallery. Thanks to Woody White for taking photos.

2022 Indy GAA Winter Banquet

Plans have made, details have been set, and tickets are now live for our annual winter banquet. After missing last year we are excited to be back this year on Saturday, January 8th, 2022, 5:00pm at the The Liter House.

The banquet is a time to reflect on the past season and catch up with each other after a few months away from the pitch. We’ll also be presenting awards to recognize members for their accomplishments on and off the field.

Dinner will be catered by Half Liter BBQ, but don’t worry, alternative dietary requirements will be accommodated, just make sure to note your needs in the notes field when purchasing your ticket(s).

The event is open to all, so be sure to invite your friends and family members, and if you have any questions please let us know.

Dress is formal, but please feel free to get as creative or unique as you like!

Due to the rising cases and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 we will be requiring that all attendees provide proof of full vaccination, as defined by the CDC, or a confirmed negative COVID-19 test result performed no greater than 48hrs before the event.

Please email a copy of your vaccination record or test result to covid19@indygaa.com to help us keep everything organized. Your data will be kept private and destroyed once we’ve verified your status.

Click the link below to purchase your tickets.

https://indygaa.wpengine.com/shop/events/2022-indy-gaa-winter-banquet/

Upcoming Events Next Week

I just wanted to get a quick reminder out before the holiday that we’ve got a few events coming up next week. The first.

Coaches Planning Meeting

December 1st – 8pm on Zoom

Everyone is invited to take part in discussing what our 2022 season should look like from the coaching perspective.  Our goal during this call is to come up with recommendations to the board for practice frequency, format, and times so that the board can work on securing fields to meet our criteria.

Flippin Donnybrook at Tappers – A Pinball Tournament

December 5th – 3pm at Tappers Arcade Bar

Help support the Indy GAA and get those last-minute points at the Flippin Donnybrook pinball tournament. Registration is just $10, and qualifying starts at 3:00pm.

The qualifying round will be a ‘best game’ format for 6 games at one attempt per game. Finals will be group ladder elimination similar to Pinburgh/PAPA. Groups of four in four-game rounds. The bottom two are eliminated. The final four will play one game for the winner.

🎃 Hurl-o-Ween is this Weekend

This Sunday at 1pm we’ll be holding an in-costume practice and trunk or treat for our youth members as well as any other children that are friends and family of the club.

It’s free to come out and should be a fun time, just be sure to RSVP using this form →

If you a club member and would like to volunteer by helping to coach or passing out candy, please fill out our volunteer form →

If you have any questions please reach out to coach@indygaa.com