Fierce Limerick female footballers prove age is just a number
MORE AND more women are getting involved in GAA it seems, with Limerick clubs creating teams for women aged 25 and over.
In the last year, there has been a huge engagement in the county with the creation of a Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) programme called Gaelic4Mothers&Others.
The only criteria is that you have to be female and over the age of 25 - you don’t even have to be a mother!
“The emergence of clubs facilitating this programme is really a testament to the evolution of Limerick GAA and their acknowledgment that women play a huge part in GAA, and that their needs matter.
“This programme has really increased the participation of women in the local GAA clubs and the community,” said Rose Collins, member of the Na Piarsiagh Gaelic4 Mothers&Others team.
The LGFA conducted a survey which showed that the drop off age from women in sports was from 25 onwards. They saw this as an opportunity to get women back into sports, social groups and the local GAA community.
Another member and organiser of the new Ballybrown women’s Gaelic football team, Linda Loftus, said that they set up their team in September 2022.
“I got the OK from the local GAA Club and the rest is history! We now have over 80 women on our books - within the first two hours of getting the word out, I had 10 names eager to join.
“It is absolutely brilliant, we love that it appeals to the ‘older’ woman, and the beauty of it is that you don’t have to commit - if you can’t make it to training some evening, that is OK.”
The Limerick GAA clubs involved are: Oola, Ballybrown, Mungret, Monaleen, Feonagh, Bruree, Adare, Murroe, Ahane, Claughan, Monagea, Blackrock, Granagh/Ballingarry and Ballylanders.