Cayman GAA on Tour!
Each year, Cayman Islands GAA sends teams to represent the country in the USGAA Finals in the USA. The Finals consist of the various US regional division championship winners along with teams from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean and are held at a different location in the USA each year.
The 2025 USGAA Finals are being held from 15th-17th August in Philadelphia. In order to play in USGAA matches, all players must be registered with USGAA. Details on how to register with USGAA and for this trip will be posted here and communicated to club members in March/April. To see how our teams got on at the 2024 USGAA Finals in San Francisco, and the 2023 USGAA Finals held in Denver, have a read below…
Cayman Islands GAA Club win Junior Premier Championship at USGAA Finals in San Francisco
The Club sent a record 110 players across 5 teams to the USGAA Finals held in San Francisco in August. Our Men's 1st team were in the Junior Premier Competition, up from Junior A in 2023. In the semi-finals, we avenged our defeat by Dallas in last year's Junior A Final, winning 2-12 to 1-09 in an excellent showing. Again in the Final the team played very well, leading well at half time but eventually ran out of steam against a suspiciously strong Young Irelanders Philadelphia team, losing 5-10 to 2-14. However, upon review of Young Irelanders team selection, it was found they had fielded numerous players who had played Senior Football for their Club earlier in the tournament, thus making them ineligible to play in the Junior competition against us. The result was appealed, Young Irelanders were thrown out of the competition and the Cayman Islands were awarded the trophy.
Our Men's 2nd team were promoted to Junior C Football this year after winning the Junior D competition in Denver last year. They faced Houston Gaels in their semi-final and gave it their all, but lost 1-14 to 0-04 in the end. The result was an undeserved reflection on the effort the lads had put in preparing for the tournament. They will be back next year for another go in Philadelphia.
The Club sent 2 Ladies Football teams to the tournament for the first time, entering the Junior B and Junior C competitions at the Quarter-Finals stage. The first team suffered defeat against Clan na Gael from San Francisco in a very topsy-turvy game on a score of 5-10 to 3-10. It was a case of what might have been as we were 8 points up in the first half, despite missing some key players due to injury. Our 2nd team faced fellow debutants Indianapolis, but they were unfortunately also beaten 1-15 to 2-07. Numerous players made their Cayman debuts across both teams and can be proud of their efforts.
Our Hurling team got a bye straight through to the Junior A Hurling Final against Michael Cusacks from Chicago. The team battled hard, but were ultimately beaten 2-23 to 0-06 points by very strong opposition, who had numerous J1 students from Ireland in their ranks.
Cayman Islands GAA Club win Junior D Championship at USGAA Finals in Denver
The Cayman Islands GAA Club’s Gaelic & Hurling National Teams returned to action for the USGAA Finals, which were held this year in Denver on the weekend of 18th-20st August, once again returning with silverware. Similar to last year’s tournament, the Club sent almost 70 players, on 4 teams, to the tournament; a ladies team, ‘A’ & ‘B’ football teams (with the ‘B’ team comprised almost entirely of non-Irish players) and a hurling team.
The weekend proved to be another successful one for the Club, returning with a cup and being just a minute short of winning a second one. The ‘B’ football team won their quarter-final on Friday against Cincinnati by 2-7 to 1-4 and followed that up with a semi-final win against Miltown Gaels of Milwaukee by 2-7 to 1-6 on Saturday. They then won their final on Sunday, in an epic contest after sudden death extra-time, by 1-10 to 1-09 against Atlanta to become the first football team to win a cup for the Club at the USGAA Finals. The lads left literally everything out on the field, with the final going through 3 periods of extra-time with the referee seemingly forgetting penalties are now a thing, and that being their 3rd match of the weekend in 30+ degrees heat at an altitude of 5000 feet. They deservedly will go down in club folklore.
The ‘A’ football team got a bye through to the Junior A semi-final on Saturday against Young Irelanders St-Brendans from San Francisco, coming through a hard-fought contest winning 3-11 to 1-7. On Sunday, they narrowly lost their final after extra-time against Dallas Fionn Mac Cumhaills on a scoreline of 1-17 to 2-12. They were agonizingly close to making it two cups on the day for the Club, as they were leading by 3 points in injury time in normal time, before Dallas grabbed a last gasp equalizing goal to send the game to extra time and ultimately proving the stronger in extra time. Although the result was heartbreaking, the lads can take strong encouragement into next season by showing they could be competitive at this grade.
The Ladies’ team earned their first win for many years, when they overwhelmed Dallas Fionn Mac Cumhaills in the Junior B quarter final by 1-21 to 1-6. They suffered defeat in the semi-final, when they came up against a very strong Denver Gaels side on home turf, going down 6-13 to 2-4. Denver Gaels went on to win the Final by 22 points, so there is no reason to believe the Cayman Ladies cannot win a cup at this grade next year.
The hurling team ended up in Junior A after winning a cup at last year’s Finals in Chicago. Unfortunately, a lot of the first-choice hurlers were unable to make the trip this year, leaving the team weaker than it might have been and so they were comfortably beaten by an outstanding Austin Celtic Cowboys side in their semi-final, 1-31 to 1-12. Similar to the Ladies, Austin went on to win the Final by 15 points, so again, with a full-strength team, it is possible for the lads to win a cup at this grade also at the Finals next year.
Special thanks to Jillian Connelly for all of the below photos!
