All roads lead to Abu Dhabi in the UAE this weekend as the city prepares to host the first ever GAA World Games.
The inaugural games will be held at Zayed Sports City with 25 teams from across the world travelling to the UAE capital to take part.
Teams from North and South America, the UK, Canada, Europe, South Africa, Asia, Australasia and of course, the local Middle East will be competing for glory over the course of the tournament.
The games, which are supported by Etihad Airways and the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, will run in line with the World Business Forum which kicks off on March 5th.
This week, we caught up with Galway sisters Aoife and Deirdre Martin who are both living in the Middle East and are looking forward to the Games.
“I’ve been playing football since the age of 10 with my club team St Brendan’s LGFC in Galway, and I also represented Galway at all underage levels but now I’m playing for Na Fianna ladies in Abu Dhabi,” said 26-year-old Aoife who is teaching in Abu Dhabi.
The talented forward went on to explain that she has won a number of medals over the years including two under 14 Connacht medals with Galway, an Under 14 Feile All-Ireland medal along with a number of senior club county medals and a Connacht Championship medal from 2005.
“Here in Abu Dhabi we train two evenings a week and some weekends. It’s a welcome excuse to get out doing something in the evenings and the social side of football here makes it very easy to make the time for the training!
“It’s funny over here as I play for Abu Dhabi and Dee plays for Dubai. We come up against each other at every tournament as we are both on the senior teams, and generally end up marking each other.
“Due to the strength of our senior teams in Abu Dhabi I’ve been lucky that I’ve been mostly on the winning side of those encounters but in terms of marking Dee, it was strange to begin with, but at this stage I enjoy it!
“It’s almost a motivation to make sure you play well!” she laughed. “But still you mark each other as you would anyone else, no holding back for each other anyway that’s for sure! Once the game is over I’ll always make sure to find her to have a quick word and say well done or hard luck!”
“I’m extremely excited about the Games! As it’s being held here in Abu Dhabi the excitement is really building. Obviously with any tournament you play in, you want to do well but for me personally, I’m already just very happy and proud to be able to play as part of the Middle East team in the first ever World Games.
“It’s sure to be a great weekend so just can’t wait for it all to kick off now!” the talented forward added. “I think it will just be the overall atmosphere that will come with the whole weekend, and the feeling of pride and excitement that will come with it all kicking off that first morning, doing your first warm up, playing the first game and so on!
“It’s definitely going to be a big highlight!”
Her sister, Deirdre who is a physiotherapist lives in Dubai and also played for St Brendan’s of Galway, is really looking forward to the games as well.
“I was lucky enough to be on some great, great teams over the years and we were very successful for a number of years,” she began. “I was part of my club team when we won two Feile All-Ireland’s and an intermediate All-Ireland,” she continued, adding that she played with the Galway minor team who won the All-Ireland in 2002.
“I also won a North American final with St Brigid’s in Chicago,” she said, “And I’m hoping that next weekend will the next big win for me!” she laughed.
“Over here, I play with the Dubai Celts and I play against Aoife a lot – it’s great craic getting beaten all the time by her and her team!
“I’m really excited for the Games this weekend though, the buzz around the place now is definitely building and it should be a great weekend. Our parents are coming over too for it so that makes its extra exciting,” the skilful defender added.
“I can’t wait to be out there and playing. We have no idea what the other teams will be like, so it’s exciting to be going out playing totally new teams and being able to pitch against players of the highest level.
“I’m really looking forward to playing with this brand new Middle East team, I’m looking forward to being on the same team as some of my biggest club rivals over here and getting to know them better,” she continued.
“After that, it will be the craic of course! We’ve been keeping our heads down and behaving ourselves in preparation for the Games over the last month or so, so we will definitely be ready for the social side of it too – there are definitely a few late nights ahead!
“It is getting hot over here now and the heat is something you never rally adapt to. Before every tournament you just forget how hot it is and how hard it is to keep playing all day until you’re out there doing it all again. But I suppose at this stage we all just have found out what works best to get through it for ourselves. It will be great to play against all the other teams and there’s some brilliant players coming over.
“There are so many fantastic players now, and it would be tough to pick a favourite, but at the moment I would have to say Valerie Mulcahy, who is coming out to represent the LGFA at the Games at the weekend. It should be a great weekend!” she finished.
Valerie Mulcahy of Cork.
Cover pic: Jerome Quinn
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