From Croke Park to the Arctic Circle

With the growth of the GAA across every continent, the sight of an O’Neills jersey and our famous O’Neills All Ireland football in more and more exotic and unusual locations worldwide is increasingly common. The fact is that Irish people living overseas export their love of all things GAA to their host communities, and this spreads the gospel of Gaelic Games into all sorts of new environments.

Kerry Mortimer is Chairperson of the Ottawa Gaels Gaelic Football Club based in Canada's capital and she’s involved in Project North, a non-for-profit with a focus on improving literacy skills and providing recreational opportunities to Inuit children in remote Northern Canadian communities.

O’Neills Balls

Kerry’s expedition was delivering hockey equipment to seven arctic communities in three days, and being a passionate Gael with a love for Gaelic football, she brought some O’Neills balls with her to introduce the children she met to the Irish game.

She carried a few O’Neills balls up to the Arctic and taught Inuit kids how to play Gaelic Football. The others on the project team started calling her “O’Neill’s” because everywhere she went she carried along a Gaelic Football.

The goal of Mortimer's specific expedition was to deliver hockey equipment to seven Arctic communities in three days.

However, little did Project North know, they had a dedicated GAA footballer in their company.

A mission of her club since 2000 has been to reach out to children in the Ottawa area. They have joined up with their local schools and have taught Gaelic Football to over 10,000 students teach year for the past three years, through a "physical literacy" program.

And that’s 10,000 students each year that have had an O’Neills ball in their hands, supplied and supported by our export team. It’s an astonishing volume of exposure for the game and underlines once again the value of the GAA volunteer ethos no matter where a club is formed in the world.

A New Audience for Gaelic football

Kerry feels that the basic skills of Gaelic football make it easily transferable to people that have not played before. She told GAA.ie:

“It's all physical movement, your entire body is involved, you’re using your hands, feet and core. Gaelic Football is a unifier. Everyone in the class starts out at the same level because they are all new to the sport.

"Athletic kids who play other sports like basketball, soccer and volleyball already have naturally applicable skills."

GAA Overseas

Kerry grew up in Calgary, Canada to Irish parents from Ballymena, Co. Antrim and played soccer her entire life. She became involved with Gaelic Football at the age of 30, after a teammate asked her to join the Ottawa Gaels. After that, she never looked back.

"As soon as I tried it, I was hooked. When I was in the hospital having my son, three other women from my club were there having babies as well. They are still my best friends today and now our kids are playing Gaelic Football for the Ottawa Gaels and travelled to the Continental Youth Championship together.

"That's what Gaelic games give you - a community.”

GAA World Games

Last summer in 2016 Kerry experienced the pinnacle for any GAA player when she played with the Canada team in Croke Park as part of the GAA World Games.

It was a fitting setting for a volunteer who does so much to promote Gaelic Games. So much so that she has earned that  O’Neills nickname among her Ottawa Gaels teammates.

From Croke Park to the Arctic Circle watching children in their winter boots and seal skins gloves, Kerry’s enthusiasm embodies the core values of the GAA.

For information on Ottawa Gaels: http://ottawagaels.ca/