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What is Gaelic Football Become part of the team!Gaelic football is a fast and exciting field game native to Ireland. It can be described as a mixture of soccer and rugby, but is a lot older. It is a field game which has developed as a distinct game similar to the progression of Australian Rules. The number of players on each team and playing times vary depending on age. For Under-8’s games are played 7v7 –a Goalkeeper, 2 Defenders, 2 Midfielders and 2 Attackers. Games are played in quarters-7 minutes each. For Under-10’s games are played 9 v 9-a Goalkeeper, 3 Defenders, 2 Midfielders and 3 Attackers. Games are played in quarters-8 minutes each. For Under -12’s games are 11 v 11- a Goalkeeper, 4 Defenders, 2 Midfielders, and 4 Attackers. Games are played in halves 20 minutes each. The object is to kick, hand-pass or fist a leather ball through to the opponents goal, into the net as in soccer to score three points or to put it over a crossbar for one point. .  The ball used in Gaelic Football is round, slightly smaller than a soccer ball. It can be carried in the hand for a distance of four steps and can be kicked or "hand-passed", a striking motion with the hand or fist. After every four steps the ball must be either bounced or "solo-ed", an action of dropping the ball onto the foot and kicking it back into the hand. You may not bounce the ball twice in a row A goal is signaled with an umpire to the left of the goal raising a green flag A point is signaled by raising a white flag to the right of goal. A '45' is signaled by the umpire raising his/her outside arm. A 'square ball', when a player scores having arrived in the 'square' prior to receiving the ball, is signaled by pointing at the small parallelogram. Gaelic football as played today is a modern, fast and enjoyable sport. Almost 2,600 clubs promote the game and there are branches of the Gaelic Athletic Association in England, Scotland, USA, Canada, Australia, parts of Asia and in most countries in Europe. In Ireland the game is played in 3,500 elementary schools and this is where most players make their first contact with the game. |
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