The United States County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or USGAA, is one of the 3 county boards of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

(GAA) in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, and is responsible for

Gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(except for the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

, which is administrated by the

New York GAA The New York County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, or New York GAA is one of the three county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in North America, and is responsible for Gaelic games in the New York metropolitan area. The ...

). The county board is also responsible for the United States county teams.

History

Hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

and

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

have been played in

ever since Irish immigrants began landing on North American shores. The earliest games of hurling in North America were played in

St. John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Amer ...

in 1788, and there are records of football being played in Hyde Park (now the site of the

Civic Center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains of one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, ...

) in San Francisco as early as the 1850s. There are established clubs in the cities that traditionally have a large Irish population, such as

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. When the North American county board was formed it included Canadian clubs in its area of control. However these clubs are now under the control of the Canadian county board. In recent years, hurling has started to enjoy support in several other U.S. cities, as evidenced by the establishment of the

Milwaukee Hurling Club The Milwaukee Hurling Club (MHC) has promoted the sport of hurling through education and game play since 1996. The Milwaukee Hurling Club (MHC), founded by Tom Mills, first introduced the sport of hurling to Milwaukee in 1996 with 30 members. In 1 ...

in 1995 and later the Twin Cities Hurling Club (MN). Other clubs include the Indianapolis Hurling Club, the St. Louis Gaelic Athletic Club, the Denver Gaels, the

Greenville Gaels Greenville is the name of several places: Canada * Laxgalts'ap, British Columbia, formerly named Greenville * Greenville, Nova Scotia, in Yarmouth County * Greenville Station, Nova Scotia, in Cumberland County * Lower Greenville, Nova Scotia, in ...

, the Orlando Hurling Club and the

Seattle Gaels Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the county ...

. Hurling is also starting to gather support at the club level at some universities, such as at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

and

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

since 2005,

California State University, Monterey Bay California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB or Cal State Monterey Bay) is a public university located in Monterey County, California, United States. The main campus is situated on the site of the former military base Fort Ord, spanning the ...

since 2006, and

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

since 2008. Interest in Gaelic Football has also developed amongst universities in America.

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a Private university, private Jesuits, Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Jesuits, Society of J ...

is the first school to have an officially recognized program after running independently since 2011.

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

's program has been running since 2011, while two other Philadelphia-area institutions,

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

and

Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...

, hope to launch club programs soon. As of 2017 more than 51% of registered players in the United States were born there. This number is an underestimation as many clubs do not register all players that select to play only local games.

Early 21st century

The GAA in North America became the victim of two major developments in the early 21st century. One was the security clampdown that followed the

9/11 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, and the other was the massive growth in the Irish '

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" () is a term referring to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. The boom was dampened by ...

' economy. These two factors led to a reduction in the number of people travelling from Ireland to the U.S., and it became difficult for many Irish people to stay in the country legally. Additionally, many Irish emigrants returned to Ireland, where they enjoyed a high standard of living that wasn't available to earlier generations. These factors reduced the number of people playing GAA in larger U.S. cities. The trend was partially offset by growth in smaller cities. With the onset of economic crisis of the late 2000s the flow of emigrants back to Ireland and into America has changed once again but current U.S. immigration policies have meant that the number of Irish that used to go to America is not now the same. Grassroots development is taking on a life of its own. Youth programs are springing up across the country and in particular are experiencing huge growth thanks to the success of the Continental Youth Championship.

Competitions

USGAA Finals

A game of hurling, DC Gaels versus Shamrocks during the Gaelic Games held in Philadelphia Each year on Labor Day weekend, the USGAA holds a championship between the clubs in all U.S. cities where there are GAA-affiliated clubs (except for New York city). Playoffs are held between the

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

and

camogie Camogie ( ; ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...

champions of the different regions in the

, to determine the USGAA champions. Play off locations: *2025 Philadelphia *2024 San Francisco *2023 Denver *2022 Chicago *2021 Northeast (Boston, MA) *2019 Mid Atlantic Division (Leesburg, VA - DC Area) *2018 Philadelphia *2017 San Francisco *2016 Seattle *2015 Chicago *2014 Boston *2013 Cleveland *2012 Philadelphia *2011 San Francisco *2010 Chicago *2009 Boston *2008 Boston *2007 Chicago *2006 Philadelphia *2005 Philadelphia *2004 Denver *2003 Boston *2002 Chicago *2001 San Francisco *2000 Boston *1999 Chicago *1998 Rockville, MD (near Washington DC) *1997 San Francisco *1996 Boston *1995 Chicago *1994 Chicago *1993 San Francisco (Balboa) *1992 Philadelphia *1991 Boston (Dilboy) *1990 Chicago *1989 Cleveland *1988 San Francisco (Balboa) *1987 Pittsburgh *1986 Philadelphia *1985 Boston *1984 Boston *1983 Chicago *1982 Detroit

Grades

The championships are divided into different grades. *Men: ** North American Senior Football Championship ** USGAA Intermediate Football Championship ** USGAA Junior A Football Championship ** USGAA Junior B Football Championship ** USGAA Junior C Football Championship ** USGAA Junior D Football Championship **

North American Senior Hurling Championship The North American Senior Hurling Championship is a competition run by North American GAA between hurling teams from various cities in the United States and Canada. Most teams come from Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco San Fran ...

** USGAA Junior A Hurling Championship ** USGAA Junior B Hurling Championship ** USGAA Junior C Hurling Championship ** USGAA Junior D Hurling Championship *Ladies: ** USGAA Senior Ladies Football Championship ** USGAA Intermediate Ladies Football Championship ** USGAA Junior A Ladies Football Championship ** USGAA Junior B Ladies Football Championship ** USGAA Senior Camogie Championship ** USGAA Junior Camogie Championship

The Continental Youth Championships

The Continental Youth Championship (CYC) began in 2004, hosted by the

. This is an annual weekend tournament that takes place in various cities from year to year. The most recent CYC was held in August 2018, contested in

Canton, Massachusetts Canton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,370 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Canton is part of Greater Boston, about southwest of Downtown Boston. History The area that is present ...

, and hosted by the

Boston GAA The Northeast Divisional Board is a division of the United States GAA (USGAA) covering the Boston Metropolitan Area. It is the largest division of the USGAA, which in turn is affiliated to the Gaelic Athletic Association in Dublin, the governing bo ...

. CYC involves under age teams from all three of the GAA jurisdictions in North America playing football, hurling, ladies' football, and camogie at all ages from Under 8 to Under 18.

Clubs

:''See: List of GAA clubs in North America'' In 2015 in the USGAA area, there were 116 adult clubs and 14 Youth clubs playing Football, Hurling or Camogie in the US outside New York City. These clubs participated in Divisional Championship competitions to qualify for the USGAA Finals in their respective sport and grade of competition. As of 2017, Gaelic games were being organized and played in over 60 cities across the US, including: *Akron, Allentown PA, Albany, Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin *Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Burlingame *Charleston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Coastal Virginia (Norfolk/Virginia Beach), Columbia, Columbus *Cayman Islands *Dallas, Denver, Detroit *Fairfax VA *Greenville, South Carolina *

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, Huntington Beach, Houston *Kansas City, Kalamazoo, Knoxville *Indianapolis *Los Angeles, Louisville *Madison, Memphis, Milwaukee *Nashville, Naperville, New Hampshire, New Orleans *Oakland, Orlando *Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Portland ME *Richmond VA, Rochester, Raleigh NC *San Antonio, St. Louis, St. Paul MN, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, South Bend, Syracuse *Tampa FL, Tacoma,http://www.tacomarangers.com/ Twin Cities *Waukesha, Washington DC, Worcester, MA, Winston-Salem NC

References

External links

*
The Continental Youth Championships
(archived 2006)

(archived 2002) {{GAA bodies