A GAELIC FOOTBALL coach from Barry has outlined ambitious plans to grow the game in the Vale following a successful year which has seen teams become established in Ysgol Bro Morgannwg and Stanwell School.
Matt Hutchinson, 47, left his home city of Cardiff in 1999 and spent the following two decades working in Britain and around the world. Surprisingly, he discovered Gaelic football in Dubai, where he played for a local team.
Matt’s passion is shared by his 16-year-old son Finn, who also played the sport in Dubai and now attends St Richard Gwyn RC High School in Barry.
The game is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective is to score by kicking or punching the ball into the other team’s goal (three points) or between two upright posts over a crossbar above the goals (one point).
Players advance the football up the field with a combination of carrying, bouncing, kicking, hand-passing, and soloing (dropping the ball and then toe-kicking the ball upward into the hands).
Gaelic football is played across Britain and is popular among the Irish community, though its appeal, along with that of hurling, broadened with the help of regular TV coverage of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) on Channel 4 in the 1980s and early 1990s. Nowadays, live matches are shown on the BBC iPlayer during the season, which runs from January to July.
Since settling in Barry in summer 2021, Matt has trained every Saturday with the St Colmcilles team in Pontcanna, who have been active since 1956. He is also now the youth officer for the club.
Since the start of the current academic year, Matt has been hosting regular sessions for pupils in year-7 and 8 at Ysgol Bro Morgannwg, and earlier this month history was made when 15 students from year-7 travelled to Bishop Vaughan Catholic School in Swansea for the first ever competitive Gaelic football game between two schools in Wales.
In June, a return fixture was held at Ysgol Bro Morgannwg, and Matt says it was a moving experience for him: “I won’t reflect on the scoreline, that didn’t matter so much because the Bishop Vaughan team was far more experienced.
“Later on, we mixed the two teams up, and the standard was very high. The Barry pupils enjoyed the experience and will have learned a lot from it.
“After the matches, I received an email from the Bristol Harps team, and they want us to take a side over there for a mini tournament on 12th July.
“On Saturdays, I coach the youngsters at St Colmcilles, so the team we take over to Bristol will consist of those, along with some from the Ysgol Bro Morgannwg, but they’ll be playing under the St Colmcilles banner.
“I’m hoping this’ll be the start of the St Colmcilles youth team being reformed after a gap of four or five years,” he said.
Matt said: “I’m now doing sessions at Whitmore High every Wednesday, and Kate Lynch has helped develop the sport and set up a team at Stanwell School. These are really exciting times and it’s wonderful to see Gaelic football take off.”
Matt is urging teachers to become qualified coaches. He said: “I’ve been able to get other coaches involved, and they’ll be going into local schools for six-week blocks, but I’d also encourage teachers to consider becoming coaches, and it’s easier than they might think.
“There’s a programme called the IGCC, which stands for the Introduction to Coaching Gaelic Games, the training covers Gaelic football and hurling. It’s a single-day, free course that’ll run between September and November.
“During July and August, I will be running one and two-day sessions in Barry and Cardiff, which will be totally free of charge. This will be a great way for children to become familiar with Gaelic football, and to do something fun, healthy and new during the school holidays.”
Matt also volunteers at the St Helen’s RC Church Community Hub in Barry, and he is inviting people to come along on Sunday, 27th July to watch live coverage of the All-Ireland Senior Championship final on the big screen: “It’s the biggest day of the Gaelic football calendar. Croke Park in Dublin will be packed and the match kicks off at 3.30pm. We’ll have a barbecue and I’d be delighted to welcome as many people as possible.”
For information about youth Gaelic football and hurling in the area, visit here.
Matt can be contacted by email:
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