Benelux Football Tournament Report: Leuven May 21 – 3 in a Row!

Another great weekend hosted by the Earls of Leuven which saw Belgium GAA women field a total of 3 teams! Another successful day for our ladies’ team saw them take home the championship and shield trophies while our men’s team fell short of qualifying for the final. 53 players in total lined out in the Belgium colours for the competition.

The men’s team managed to top a difficult group against Leuven, Luxembourg ‘B’ and Amsterdam ‘B’. They started the day off with a win against Luxembourg ‘B’. The 2nd game of the afternoon was against Amsterdam ‘B’ who managed to knock the lads out in the previous round in Eindhoven. This time, Belgium managed to overcome Amsterdam ‘B’ from behind with a great performance. The final game of the group was against the hosts Leuven, who also won their two games. Another very tough game saw Belgium defeat Leuven. With Belgium topping their group they were matched against Den Haag in the championship semi finals. A game which was forced to extra time with the men’s team just falling short at the end. 3rd place is where they finished for the day as Leuven conceded the 3/4th place playoff.

Some of the Belgium men’s players spent the day competing with Frankfurt who managed to win the Sheild final which was great to see! Thanks very much to Frankfurt for hosting the lads and giving them plenty of game time.

The lads enjoying the hospitality hosted by Leuven

For the first time since 2010 in Benelux, a ladies’ team managed to field a total of 3 teams. The first meeting of the day was Belgium ‘A’ vs Belgium ‘C’ which saw ‘A’ take the win. Belgium ‘A’ continued their good form by beating Den Haag/Hamburg/Maastricht and Luxembourg to top their group. Belgium C wasn’t as successful in the group and qualified for the shield completion. In the other group, Belgium ‘B’ managed to beat Dusseldorf/Frankfurt but fell short against a strong Amsterdam side and the hosts Leuven. This meant Belgium ‘B’ joined Belgium ‘C’ in the shield competition with Belgium ‘A’ going for the top spot in the championship.

Belgium ‘A’ won their semi final against the host Leuven 4-08 to 2-03, which meant a repeat of the first two Benelux finals against Amsterdam. Belgium ‘A’ came out on top this time where the result didn’t reflect on how tough the encounter was, with a final score of 5-08 to 0-08. It was also Grainne Aylward’s first time making an appearance with Belgium GAA in 3 years!

An interesting affair was on the cards for the semi final of the shield where Belgium ‘B’ were up against Belgium ‘C’. Belgium ‘C’ managed to get their first win of the day by defeating Belgium ‘B’ and qualifying for the shield final. Belgium ‘C’ finished a great day with another win by beating Dusseldorf/Frankfurt in a close encounter of 1-09 to 2-04 in the shield. This meant another trophy was travelling back to Brussels on the quick train journey home!

Smiles all around after a very successful day for the Belgium Ladies Team!

The ladies team continued to show their dominance of the Benelux competition who have won all 3 tournaments so far this season and take a step closer to winning it outright. For the women to field 3 teams and take home the championship & shield titles on the day, it is safe to say that it’s a magnificent achievement and the players/management should be extremely proud. For the men’s team, it’s back to the drawing board for them but they still remain in contention for the Benelux championship, so it’s all to play for!

Anay Rios Collecting the Championship Trophy
Danielle Brady Collecting the Sheild Trophy

Photos of the day can be accessed here.

Benelux Hurling/Camogie Tournament Report: Den Haag May 7 – Double Delight to Start the Season

A great weekend for the Hurlers and Camogie players of Belgium GAA as we saw both teams winning the first tournament of the year in Den Haag. A total of 38 players made the trip across the Dutch border which had an action-packed afternoon of small ball.

There were two Belgium GAA teams split evenly for the camogie competition with Cologne/Dusseldorf and a combined team of Den Haag, Maastricht, Amsterdam and Luxembourg. Belgium ‘A’ and Belgium ‘B’ won their opening two games against Cologne/Dusseldorf and the combined team. Belgium ‘B’ managed to win their game against Belgium ‘A’ in the last game of the group. This meant that both Belgium teams qualified for the final with the cup guaranteed to make the journey back to Brussels. The final was a close encounter that saw Belgium ‘B’ win 2:07 to 2:05 against Belgium ‘A’. Soline Whooley captained the Belgium ‘B’ side who thanked the referees and Den Haag for hosting a great day.

There were 8 teams in total for the hurling competition which saw two groups of four teams. Belgium also had two teams on the day with Belgium ‘A’ competing in the championship group and Belgium ‘B’ in the shield. Belgium ‘A’ started the day with a tough game against Luxembourg but they managed to get the win. Next up was against the hosts’ Den Haag which resulted in a win of 0-16 to 1-03. With Amsterdam winning their two games as well, both teams decided to skip the last group game against each other and play the final instead. It was a great physical game had Belgium ‘A’ leading at halftime by 1 point. The hurlers had to dig deep but gave a great 2nd half performance to win 1:18 to 2:10. Belgium ‘B’ were competing in the shield group with Eindhoven, Cologne/Dusseldorf and Lux B/Maastricht. Unfortunately, Belgium ‘B’ didn’t manage to get a win out of the 3 games but the 9 hurlers gave it their all without having any subs to bring on.

Another successful day overall that saw both codes complete the double. Soline Whooley and Brendan O’Donoghue captained their respective sides. Both teams had great individual performances all around with congratulations to Aoife Mahon and Alex Quinn who won player of the tournament in their respective codes. Alex has now won a hurling and football player of the tournament in Benelux this year which is great to see. Next up is another Benelux round in Maastricht on June 11 where both teams will be looking for a repeat of the first tournament.

L To R: Aoife Mahon (Player of the Tournament), Soline Whooley (Camogie Captain), Brendan O`Donoghue (Hurling Captain), Alex Quinn (Player of the Tournament)

Photos taken throughout the day

Benelux Football Tournament Report: Eindhoven April 23 – Two in a Row for the Women!

Another great weekend of football in Eindhoven where the ladies football team won the tournament with the men’s falling short to take 3rd spot.  With 50 players in total travelling, we had 4 strong teams wearing the red, black and yellow.

The women’s team were looking to continue their great form after winning the first round in Maastricht. Belgium ‘A’ had a perfect morning by winning all 3 of their group games beating Luxembourg ‘B’, Nijmegan and Eindhoven/ Maastricht. Belgium ‘B’ had a very tough group losing to Luxembourg ‘A’, and Amsterdam, but had a convincing win against our neighbour’s Leuven. This meant that Belgium ‘A’ qualified for the championship semi-final and Belgium ‘B’ in the shield semi-final. Both teams won their semi-finals with Belgium ‘A’ beating Luxembourg ‘A’ and Belgium ‘B’ beating Luxembourg ‘B’. Unfortunately, Belgium ‘B’ lost out by a slim margin of one point to Leuven. It was a repeat of Maastricht with Belgium ‘A’ playing Amsterdam in the final and coming out on top with a score of 2-05 to 2-02. Another great performance from the women who racked up a total of 28 goals and 33 points for the day and continue to lead the Benelux championship!  

The men’s team were looking to have a repeat of Maastricht after winning the competition in the first round. Belgium ‘A’ had convincing performances in the group stage by winning all three games against Luxembourg ‘B’, Dusseldorf/Leuven, and Maastricht. Belgium ‘B’ didn’t have as much success in the morning being in a tough group against Leuven, Eindhoven and Amsterdam ‘B’. This meant that Belgium ‘A’ qualified for the championship semi-final and Belgium ‘B’ had qualified for the plate semis. Belgium ‘A’ had missed out on qualifying for the final as they lost out to a strong Amsterdam side. Belgium ‘B’ were extremely unlucky not to qualify for the plate final as they were brought to extra time after conceding a last-minute goal, which eventually ended up with a loss to Nijmegen.

Overall, any day you bring back a trophy to Brussels is a good day! The woman’s team continued their flying form and it probably won’t be the last time we see a Belgium v Amsterdam matchup this season. For the men’s team, they will be looking to pick themselves up again and have their eyes on Round 3 in Leuven on May 21. Congratulations to Jenny and Rachel who lifted the trophy for the women. Áine Charlton had a great performance all day which led to Belgium getting another player of the tournament, congrats to her!

L To R: Jenny Moore, Áine Charlton (Player of the Tournament), Rachel Corcoran

Photos of the day can be found below. Thanks to Jan (Jjt Gaelforce) for capturing all the action.

Benelux Football Tournament Report: Maastricht April 10 – The Double!

A great weekend for the footballers of Belgium GAA as we saw the men’s and women’s teams winning the tournament, thus completing the double. With 11 men’s teams and 9 women’s teams competing from the Benelux region, it was an action-packed day that saw the red, black and yellow out in both codes.

The women’s team came out in exceptional numbers having 2 full teams ready for action. Belgium ‘A’ had a great morning by winning all 4 of their group games beating Luxembourg ‘A’, Amsterdam ‘B’, Eindhoven/Leuven/Maastricht, and Den Haag. Belgium ‘B’ also had a great morning by coming 2nd in their group beating Luxembourg ‘B’, and Nijmegen, with a loss to one of the favourites for the day Amsterdam ‘A’. This meant that the two Belgium teams were drawn against each other for the semi-finals. As a result of this, Belgium ‘B’ conceded to give Belgium ‘A’ a walkover so they’d be fresh for the Final against Amsterdam ‘A’. The last match of the day led to Belgium ‘A’ having a great performance winning a close encounter against a very strong Amsterdam side 1-02 to 0-02.

The men travelled in large numbers but were just short of putting together 2 teams after a couple of last-minute injuries. This meant that we were in full strength with a few lads joining up with Amsterdam ‘B’ who came joint third for the day. The men’s team started the morning by topping their group by winning all their matches against Luxembourg ‘B’, Köln/Dusseldorf, and Maastricht. Progressing to the semi-finals, they overcame Eindhoven beating them 6-04 to 1-04. For the championship final, it was business as usual with the classic matchup of Belgium v Luxembourg once again. This time Belgium came out on top with a good performance of 1-05 to 0-03. This meant that Belgium were the winners of the day and now top the Men’s Benelux Championship for the first time in years.

A very productive Saturday led to the Men’s and women’s teams completing the double for the first tournament of the season! A great day all around that saw Flo & Jenny lift the women’s trophy and Delargy & Bros raising the men’s. Both teams had great individual performances all around with congratulations to Jenny Moore and Alex Quinn who won player of the tournament in their respective codes. Next up for the footballers is a trip to Eindhoven on April 23 where both teams will be looking for a repeat of the first tournament.  

L To R: Florina Tobon Escobar (Ladies Captain), Jenny Moore (Player of the Tournament), Alex Quinn (Player of the Tournament), Liam Brosnan (Men’s Co-Captain), Ciaran Delargy (Men’s Co-Captain)

Photos of the day can be found below. Thanks to Jan (Jjt Gaelforce) for capturing all the action.

Belgium GAA Players: Duncan Casey

Duncan Casey joins us for our first episode of Belgium GAA Players! Today we discuss returning to Gaelic Football after 12 years of absence from the sport while playing Professional Rugby. Joined by Belgium GAA PRO, Seanie Ryan, the aim of these player profiles are to put some faces to our club and show what a great bunch of lads/laddies we are. Other topics discussed throughout the video include the social aspect of the club, favourite moments on the GAA pitch and how Duncan’s favourite Belgium beer is the swill we all know too well. Check out the video below:

Belgium GAA Are Recruiting For 2022

The 2022 season has started, and this year’s a big one after not being able to fully compete for the past 2 years. Our club is aiming to add to its 29 European Champions and make it past the 30 mark this year!

Are you Irish and working/studying in Belgium this year?  Keep your ties with the GAA and join our family.  We’re looking for new members for our Hurling, Camogie, Gaelic Football and Ladies Football teams.  All skill levels are welcome.

All nationalities are welcome too. We have a total of 20 nationalities in our club and not including Cork!  Why not pick up one of our legendary Irish sports this year? We get to play in tournaments all over Europe and the craic is mighty! If you don’t know what ‘craic’ is then come down to training to find out.

Training sessions

Training is at the VUB, Boulevard de la Plaine 2, 1050 Ixelles.

Ladies Football, Men’s Football and Camogie have already started every Monday and Thursday night. With Hurling training every Monday and Thursday night beginning the 14th of March.

HURLING
Mondays: 19:30–20:30
Thursdays: 20:30–21:30

GAELIC FOOTBALL (WOMEN)
Mondays: 19:30–20:45
Thursdays: 20:45–22:00

GAELIC FOOTBALL (MEN)
Mondays: 20:30–21:30
Thursdays: 19:30–20:30

CAMOGIE
Mondays: 20:45–22:00
Thursdays: 19:30–20:45

If you want to join up, email:  pro.belgium.europe@gaa.ie

Belgium GAA Updates Website with New Look

As you can tell, the PRO has stopped making glizzy memes and decided to relaunch the new and improved website for Belgium GAA. The redesign has up to date information which will hopefully appeal to people outside of our club who will be looking to join. Feel free to have a look around and if you have any problems please contact pro.belgium.europe@gaa.ie or reach out to Seanie directly.

The 2017 Season is underway!

So I’ve been a bit late getting this up for 2017. Apologies for that – long story involving our website and some domain snipers from China… but that’s besides the point! The main thing is, we’re back in business and so is Belgium GAA – back in action for the 2017 season and rearing to go!

As always we’ll be challenging on all fronts and aiming to become European Champions across 4 codes – we’ve held all titles at the same time before, but we have yet to win them all in the calendar year – a bit like Tiger Woods with the majors 🙂 – so maybe 2017 is the year!

So what’s new? Well, to be honest, quite a lot! Here’s what you need to know!

Men’s Gaelic Football

The footballers will be looking to pick up their first European Championship since that famous day in Maastricht in 2012 when a win over Guernsey brought the trophy back to Brussels – how time flies! The team is under new management this year with Olof Gill handing over the reigns to Declan Treanor as manager. We take this opportunity to thank Olof for his efforts over the last couple of years; now he can concentrate on continuing to do the business on the field! Declan has been around the club on and off since 2012 and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the group. A former Dublin panel member, Declan is an extremely high calibre coach and it is fantastic for the team that he’s taking over. Joining Declan on the management team will be former team member Ciaran Hudson, along with Damien Columb (statistics) and Paul Quinn (Football Officer).

The first outing of the year was in the Den Haag tournament on the 8th of April. The side looked strong throughout the day, reaching a final against Luxembourg where they were unfortunately beaten thanks to a late goal on a scoreline of Luxembourg 1-8 1-6 Belgium. The Shield side were also in action, but had a disappointing day in a particularly strong Shield competition. Still plenty to build on, and both sides have picked themselves up already and used the defeats to spur them on in training.

Ladies Football

What does a team do after they win their 9th Championship in a row? Try to make it 10-in-a-row of course! That’s the challenge facing our ladies footballers this year, and what a milestone that would be! Our club’s most successful team have done it all since the team was formed in 2008, winning every European Championship that has been available to them, and even going on to win games over British Champions. This year they have a chance to really make history – how many teams can you think of that have won 10-in-a-row? I can’t think of any. We’re all rooting for you, girls – bring the cup home again!

It won’t be easy of course, and the competition is set to be stronger than ever this year. The effort being put into training thus far shows that the girls are really tuned in to that reality. Changes aplenty on the management side for the girls, with Marla Candon coming in to take over the coaching alongside Margaux Mansanarez who has been named as team captain for the 2017 season.

The ladies footballers also had their first competitive outing of the year on the 8th of April in Den Haag. They met Holland in the final and controlled the game throughout, winning by a scoreline of Belgium 1-11 0-6 Holland. A great start to the year, and Marla and Margaux will be looking to ensure the team build on that early momentum in the upcoming tournaments.

Hurling

We’ve been going through something of a golden spell of hurling in the club over the past few years, and the win in Dresden in October 2016 secured a famous four-in-a-row for the lads. This is a significant achievement, particularly given how competitive the European Championship tends to be, and so it is great to see Belgium performing consistently well year-on-year.

The new season brings change to the management setup. Manager Dave Barrett stays on for the coming year, but 2016 Championship winning captain Caoimhin Ó Coighligh has stepped down from the role and is replaced by Brendan O’Donoghue. Brendan is the 2016 hurler of the year and having shown much leadership last season, he is a perfect fit for the role. The new management team also inititially included former UCD Freshers manager Eoin Ryan, however Eoin will unfortunately be leaving the setup in the coming months when he heads back to Dublin for work. On the coaching side, its also great to see Adrian Hiel, stalwart Belgium GAA goalkeeper, come back into the setup to help out with the training – you can never have too much experience around a side, and Adrian has plenty of it.

The team is in training ahead of the start of the season and had their first outing of the year on Sunday the 23rd of April with friendlies against Den Haag and Amsterdam. They will now be preparing to compete for an historic 5th Championship in a row.

Camogie

Similarly to the hurlers, our Camogie team has been going through a particularly successful period and also completed an impressive 4-in-a-row in Dresden last October. With good numbers at training already, the girls will be looking to build on that success and have another great season in 2017.

On the management side, Grainne Corry and Meadbh Bolger will be at the helm this season and looking to drive the team onward towards an historic 5-in-a-row. Gráinne and Meadbh are both talented and experienced camogie players and both impressed greatly in 2016. They’ll be looking to lead by example once again, improve the skills of the players and get the team working as impressively in 2017 as it has done in recent years.

The girls had their first outing on Sunday the 23rd of April with a narrow friendly loss to Holland. Additionally, members of the Belgium Camogie team travelled to London on the 29th of April to represent Europe at the Tara Camogie 7s tournament. Impressive performances throughout the day from the players from Belgium, Hamburg, Eindhoven and Amsterdam gave Europe the win. The Belgium players will take encouragement from the part they played London and indeed from their performances against Holland in the friendly, but will also now be well aware of the talented players the other European clubs have at their disposal; it’s set up nicely to be a great Camogie Championship 2017!

What’s Next?

Next up is the Eindhoven round of the Football Championships on the 6th of May. Our Men’s and Ladies teams will be heading to Eindhoven with every intention of bringing home the silverware given the ladies won their first tournament in Den Haag and the men came within a whisker of winning theirs. Both will have strong panels travelling and it is set up to be a fantastic day of football.

On the hurling and camogie side, the 20th May will be the first tournament of the year in Luxembourg. The hurlers will see this as the perfect place to pick up where they left off last year, and indeed it was in Luxembourg where they convincingly beat a strong Amsterdam side in the final and got their successful season underway. The girls will also be looking to start the season off with a win, and will have a very strong side travelling with some new talented players having joined the panel during the pre-season.

The very best of luck to all our teams in the upcoming tournaments, and be sure to check in on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to find out how they get on.

Also, always remember that newcomers are welcome at all times; this club is only as strong as its membership and we are constantly looking to grow. Would you like to come down and give it a try? You’ll be more than welcome – get in touch!

#AnBheilgAbú

Belgium GAA Are Recruiting For 2016

The 2016 season is almost upon us, and this year’s a big one. Our hurlers  and camogs are aiming for their 4th European Championship title in a row and our ladies footballers  are aiming for  their 9th!

Are you Irish and working/studying over here   in Belgium this year?  Keep your ties with the GAA and join our family.  We’re looking for new members for our  Hurling, Camogie, Gaelic Football and Ladies Football teams.  All skill levels are welcome.

All nationalities are welcome too. We have players from Belgium, Estonia, Spain, Serbia, Colombia and even Cork!  Why not pick up one of our legendary Irish sports in 2016? We get  to play in tournaments all over Europe and the craic is mighty! If you don’t know what ‘craic’ is then come down to training to find out.

Training sessions

Training is at the VUB, Boulevard de la Plaine 2, 1050 Ixelles.

Ladies and Men’s Football every Monday and Thursday night beginning the 15th of February.  Hurling and Camogie training  every Monday and Thursday night beginning the 3rd of March.

Hurling
Mondays and Thursdays
19:30 – 20:45

Camogie
Mondays
19:30 – 20:45 (warm-up at 19:15)
Thursdays
20.45 – 22.00 (warm-up at 20.30)

Men’s Football
Mondays and Thursdays
20:30 – 22:00

Ladies’ Football
Mondays
20.45 – 22.00 (warm-up at 20.30)
Thursdays
19:30 – 20:45 (warm-up at 19:15)

Belgium GAA are recruiting for 2016

If you want to join up, email:  pro.belgium.europe@gaa.ie

Or get in touch with us via Facebook or Twitter.

Camogie & Hurling round up

The Belgium colours have been well represented at the European small ball venues. Both Camógs and Hurlers alike have travelled to the four corners of the continent to battle it out. There is one tournament left, the home tournament. The pressure’s on to perform. We look back at the season so far.

Continue reading “Camogie & Hurling round up”