by David Littlejohn

July Updates

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!

Download Our Printable Schedule →
by Kyle Keesling

Updates for the Week of June 7-13

As we continue to ramp up activities for the year I wanted to take a quick second to put together a list of events and happenings that everyone should be aware of.

In addition to everything below we hope to see you at practice this Tuesday… if the weather cooperates 🌧

June Board Meeting this Wednesday

This month’s board meeting will be held this coming Wednesday, June 9th, at 7:30pm on RingCentral Meetings. All members are welcome to attend and we encourage you to do so, particularly if you have any questions or ideas you’d like to contribute. You can view the call-in details, and add the event to your calendar here →

Pub League Registration Deadline is this Friday

As we announced last week, registration for our club and the 2021 pub league is now live. The deadline to register and ensure you are entered into the draft is end of day this Friday, June 11th. The draft will be held a week from today, Monday, June 14th, at 7:30pm at Centerpoint Brewing.

You can register here, and if you have any questions please reach out to registration@indygaa.com.

Sunday Pick-up Games

This past Sunday we began holding pick-up games/stick tosses at Eugene Burns Fields. We will continue to do this until Pub League starts on July 11th. Hurling/camogie match starts at 11am and Gaelic football starts at noon.

More details can be found here →

July Virtual Referee Course

The Heartland GAA will be holding an online referee course next month, on July 14th, at 8:30pm. The training will be lead by Heartland Treasurer and long-time referee/trainer Brian Mathes.

This a great course for anyone interested in refereeing or even just wanting to get a better understanding of the rules. All skill and experience levels are welcome.

Call-in details are still forthcoming so be sure to check the calendar event for updates.

Football training with Eammon Ryan
by Kyle Keesling

Pick-up Games Starting this Sunday

As we keep barreling every-so-closer to the start of pub league, we wanted to provide an opportunity for folks to knock the rust off on the pitch. So starting this Sunday we will begin holding a stick toss at 11am for hurling and camogie, whatever the equivalent type of toss (boot? ball?) is for Gaelic football at 12pm.

Everyone is welcome to join us whether you’re brand new or a returning player, just bring a decent set of boots and a hurley/helmet/mouthguard if you have one. We do have some spare equipment and will attempt to accommodate those who may need it, but

We hope to see you out this weekend at Eugene Burns Fields, and if you have any questions please reach out to our Coaching Chair, Andretta Erickson.

Also, if you’ve not yet registered for pub league, hop to it! Details can be found on our registration page.

✏️ Register for the 2021 Pub League Season →
by Kyle Keesling

🎉 2021 Pub League Registration is Live

Now that we have over a month’s worth of practices under our belts we figured it was a good time start talking about Pub League!

While some of the finer details are still in flux we do have enough information to open up registration for the season. If some of you are thinking to yourself “wait, I already did that” you’re right, but let me quickly explain why we’re asking you to do this again.

Early on in the year we created a simple registration form on our website to try and gauge interest in playing this year, and while we did keep that open through USGAA registration, it became apparent that it wasn’t really the best way to get our ducks in a row… that and only a little over of half of y’all actually completed it 😆. The good news is if you’ve already done it, or done it in years past, the form should be pre-populated with your information, just double check it to see if it’s all up to date.

In addition we also need to collect league dues for the year, and the registration process is the best way to do that, so without further ado, here’s what you need to know this year:

  • The 2021 Draft will be on Monday, June 14th, 2021 @ 7:00pm at Centerpoint Brewing
    • Both football and hurling/camogie drafts will be held on the same night
    • We will be maintaining the same draft order used for the 2020 season
    • We know that the fact that we are not carrying over the teams from the 2020 season is disappointing to many of you, and believe us when we say we considered many different options, but ultimately there were a number of teams that are now missing key people from their rosters that would put them at an unfair disadvantage
  • Deadline to register is end-of-day Friday, June 11th
  • If you are a returning member and did not register with the USGAA by the April 30th deadline you are not eligible to participate in the 2021 pub league season
  • If you are a new member and have not registered with the USGAA, no worries! You have until August 30th to register. Please contact our secretary, Rachel Keesling, for more information
  • All games, both hurling/camogie and Gaelic football will be played on Sundays
    • League will run July 11th – October 3rd
    • Labor Day weekend will be a bye week
    • Playoffs will be held on September 26th and October 3rd
  • We are also more than happy to accomodate payment plans for those who might need them, just reach out to our treasurer, Chris Burrows, to get set up

We also know that this past year has been very difficult for folks, so we wanted to come up with a way to help out those of us who’ve been hit the hardest. With that in mind we offering a no-questions-asked 30% discount for any member who may have experienced hardships due to the pandemic, just use the coupon code COVID19 when completing your registration.

Still have questions? Contact registration@indygaa.com for help!

✏️ Register for the 2021 Season Now →
by Kyle Keesling

Changes to the Board

Now that everything is official we wanted to make the club aware of some changes made to this year’s Board of Directors.

Our esteemed Head Coaching Officer, Paul O’Donoghue, has unfortunately resigned his seat on the board due to the need for his family to relocate. A few weeks ago Paul’s wife was informed by her employer that they would be moving to South Korea. While this is an exciting opportunity for his family it has required them to act quickly.

Paul is currently in the midst of tackling all of the challenges and logistics of moving his family halfway around the globe, but from the very start to the very end of his tenure, Paul has been a tremendous asset to our club. When Paul joined our club he quickly became involved with our youth organization, and from there continued to contribute new and exciting ideas as our Head Coaching Officer. The Indy GAA has been lucky to have Paul and he will be sorely missed while he’s gone.

While Paul’s departure from the board leaves some big boots to fill, the person that is assuming his position is more than capable of keeping the ball (and sliotar) rolling. With that the board would like to welcome Andretta Erickson as the Indianapolis GAA’s newest Head Coaching Officer.

Many thanks to Dretta for stepping up in the club’s time of need, we are excited to keep moving!

by Chris Burrows

Bulk Equipment Order from American Hurling

I’ll be placing an American Hurling order soon for some new equipment. You can get a look at their stock here →

If you are interested in jumping on the order to save on shipping, let me know what you’d like by Tuesday, May 25th at chrisrburrows@gmail.com, and I’ll figure out what the individual costs for folks will be after dividing the shipping.

After that’s sorted, I’ll place the order and will plan on bringing the equipment to practices and/or make other arrangements (within reason) to get the gear delivered.

by Rachel Keesling

2021 USGAA Registration Instructions

As we begin to ramp up for the 2021 season we also have to take care of all of the clerical work that goes with it. Part of that is not only registering with our club, but also with the USGAA. As we voted on at the 2019 AGM, all members are responsible for registering themselves with the USGAA and paying the fees associated with that.

You MUST be registered with the USGAA in order to play in our Pub League and/or any other sanctioned games or tournaments. This requirement and deadline is not something determined by our club, but rather at the national level. The fees associated with this registration help the USGAA organize tournaments, develop and promote the games in the US, as well as fund the insurance policy that protects all players, including you, on the pitch. We know that this deadline may seem early in comparison to the restart of our own club’s activities, this is in part why we have decided to hold off charging any Indy GAA club dues for the time being.

We cannot emphasize enough how important this is! If you are not registered, you WILL NOT be able to play. I will be calling on the 2020 team captains to help me get this done and ensure that you and your teammates are properly registered.

The deadline for returning players to complete your USGAA Registration is April 30th – NO EXCEPTIONS!

Step-by-Step Registration Instructions

  • Choose 2021 Heartland Division – Register Now
  • Log In 
    • If you have registered in the past, your info should already be in the system
      • Your user name is your email 
        • If you are new, you’ll need to create an account 
    • If you don’t remember your password try Indygaa!9, but you also many need to just use the password reset
  • Choose Someone to register
    • Your name and DOB should be here if your account already exists
    • If it is not there, click “Someone else…” to enter that information
  • Click Add Registration for Selected person
  • Select ‘Indianapolis Camogie $42’ or ‘Indianapolis Hurling and Gaelic Football $63’
    • DO NOT CHOOSE ‘Indianapolis Social Membership $11’ or ‘Indianapolis USGAA Club Fees $105’
  • Scroll to bottom and click continue to registrant info
    • If you played last year, all of your info should be in there 
  • Select Resident Player – Homegrown (Unless you’re visiting us from Ireland)
  • Last 4 digits of drivers license 
  • State where ID was issued 
  • Country of birth
  • Division and team category
  • Division? Heartland
  • Primary sport?
    • Ladies Camogie, Ladies football, Mens hurling, or Mens football
  • What team are you registering for?
    • Indy GAA Camogie/Hurling/Football – write what applies to you
  • At which grade are you registering? (If you aren’t sure, just select Junior)
    • Junior, Intermediate, Senior, or N/A
  • Are you a dual code player? (Do you play two sports? IE hurling/football or camogie/football)
  • What other team do you play for? If not dual, put NA, otherwise put Indy GAA
  • At what grade are you registering? Junior, Intermediate, Senior, or N/A (select N/A if not dual code)
  • Continue to registrar participant 
  • Payment 
  • Enter billing info (if not entered)
  • Then enter credit card data 
  • Confirm registration 
  • Payment should be complete 
Visit the USGAA Registration Site

Still have questions? Refer to the registration guide provided by the USGAA, post in the #usgaaregistration channel in our Slack, or contact me for help!

by Kyle Keesling

Practices Start this Tuesday!

Good News Everyone! Practices starts on Tuesday!

We’ve received approval for our COVID-19 plan which means we can now start practices. So without further ado, here are the details:

COVID Protocols

Per required by Indy Parks and the Marion County Department of Public Health the Indy GAA was required to submit a COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Event Plan in order to conduct club activities. You can view a copy of the approved plan by clicking the button below, but let’s highlight the basics:

  • All participants will be required to have their temperatures taken and complete a brief symptom survey
    • This helps us ensure everyone is healthy enough to play and allows us to track who participates in the event that contact tracing needs to take place
  • Masks will be required when not actively practicing
  • Sharing of equipment will not be permitted
  • 6 feet of distance should be maintained between participants as much as possible
  • Practice will be split into smaller groups/pods to help ensure that proper space is given and all drills will be designed to minimize player contact

How to Help Us Start on Time

There are two simple things you can do to help make sure we can start practice on time and as smoothly as possible, they are:

  • Fill out the symptom survey prior to stepping on the fields
  • Show up 10-15 minutes early to make sure we have to opportunity to take everyone’s temperate prior to starting and verify that all surveys have been completed

If there are any questions or concerns regarding practice, or any of the protocols we’ve put in place, please don’t hesitate to reach out to board@indygaa.com.

📄 COVID-19 Questionnaire – Must be filled out day of practice →
📄 View Our Approved COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Event Plan (PDF) →