Western Canada Divisional Board - Cumann Lúthchleas Gael an Iarthar Ceanada
The founding meeting of the Western Canada Divisional Board of the Canadian County Board was held in Edmonton, AB on the 31st of May 2003, attended by
In 2004, the first formal GAA sanctioned Western Canada Championship was played. The Divisional Board, in order to facilitate tournaments that include unaffiliated teams (i.e. not in the Western Canada Division), and to allow each teams host critical games (understanding the travel distances between venues), agreed that the Championship would be played out in a League format. Each member team would play each other team twice, over two tournaments. The venue for Championship games would be rotated requiring that each team is required to cross the Rockies only once each year. Though there may be several more clubs attending each city's tournament, only member clubs compete in this Championship. The Western Canada Divisional Board (WCDB) is dedicated to improving the standard of competition and to providing as many games as possible for its member clubs. In British Columbia, there is the Vancouver Harps of the Vancouver Irish Sporting and Social Club, ISSC. In Alberta there are four clubs, the Calgary Chieftains, Red Deer Eire Ogs, Fort McMurray Shamrocks and Edmonton Wolfe Tones. The WCDB is made up of representatives from each of the member clubs. The eight-person board consists of a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and five members at large. Western Canadian Divisional Board President: Kim Budd Secretary: Rory Lynch Vancouver Irish Sporting and Social Club President: Ronan Matthews Secretary: Jerrry McCarthy Edmonton Wolfe Tones President: Kimberly Budd Secretary: Jessie McKitrick Calgary Chieftains President: John Patrick Treacy Secretary: Julia Riguax Red Deer Eire Ogs President: Blaine Lavery Secretary: Darren Lavery ALBERTA
Calgary Chieftains: The men and lady Chieftains attend tournaments in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Red Deer and Seattle. They host the annual Calgary Gaelic Football Tournament and have a firm relationship with the Calgary Kangaroos Aussie Rules team. Honours: Men’s Western Canada Champions - 2004 and 2007; Men's Northwest Champions 1989 and 1990; Men's Northwest Divisional NACB Champions 1983 Website: www.calgary.gaa.ie Edmonton Wolfe Tones: In Edmonton, they pride themselves on the development and promotion of Gaelic football and the Irish culture in their city. Men and women’s select sides compete in the Western Canada Divisional Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (G.A.A.) Honours: Ladies Western Canadian Champions 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2011; Men's Northwest Champions 1991, Western Canadian Champions 2009 Website: www.edmontongaa.com Red Deer Eire Og Lying as it does smack bang in the middle of two hot-beds of Alberta Gaelic Football, Red Deer is a prime location for the development of the games. If you're in the region, and interested in Gaelic Football, contact Blaine Lavery blainelavery@gmail.com or Darren Lavery dlavery@caits.ca Website: www.reddeergaa.ca BRITISH COLUMBIA
Vancouver Harps (ISSC): The club competes in Ladies and Men’s Gaelic Football and hurling against the Seattle Gaels and at the American Championships. The club promotes the games to youth and interested Canadians. With the mild West Coast winter's Vancouverites can enjoy Gaelic Football all year round, with a Seven's Mixed (6 Team) League in the run-up to St. Patrick's Day each year. Honours: Men's Intermediate North American County Board Football Champions 2011; Men's Junior 'A' NACB Hurling Champions 2010, Men’s Western Canadian Champions 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011; Ladies' Western Canadian Champions 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010; Men's Northwest Champions 1987 and 1988; Men's Northwest Divisional NACB Champions 1984 and 1985 The first complete Western Canada tournament to be staged in Red Deer, Alberta, can only be described as a resounding success in 2010. By all accounts, the teams from Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge and Vancouver raved about their hosts, and their experiences in this latest Western Canada GAA hub where top-class fields and facilities saw a very high standard of Gaelic Football played in lush green fields in Alberta. The Vancouver Harps Ladies repeated their heroics of 2008, taking both titles back over the Rockies and there were no complaints from the opposition. The Ladies demonstrated great skills but also, keen tactical awareness, to take their 4th title in a row, and over take the Edmonton Wolfe Tones as the club with the most titles in this Division. The Vancouver Harps (Men) played some great football and though the Albertan sides really put it up to them, they had enough to in the end to win the title by a deserved margin. It was great to see the Lethbridge, AB, contingent in town, and their players provided great support to Red Deer Eire Og's cause. Red Deer were competitive in all their fixtures, and effectively ended the challenge of the spirited Vancouver Celts with their victory over the only club younger than theirs in the Western Canada Division. Stephen Agnew produced a powerhouse display for Eire Og scoring a cracking hat-trick of goals to ensure a victory for the home side. Calgary Chieftains and Edmonton Wolfe Tones renewed rivalries in the final game of the 2010 Championship with the Wolfe Tones victory providing a small consolation for the 2009 Champions. Saturday night’s event at the Westerner was memorable with Sean Smith providing a brief and enlightening summary of the career of Edmonton and Co. Louth Great, Jack Bell. Jack, a stalwart of the Wolfe Tones, died in March 2010, and the Gaelic community in Western Canada will miss his presence. The Bell family were on hand to accept from the Canadian County Board’s secretary, John O’Flynn, a Louth jersey in commemoration of his services to the County. A special presentation was also made by John O’Flynn to the Lavery and Lynch families of Red Deer in recognition of their efforts in founding a GAA club in Red Deer. A recently published book called Lest We Forget that chronicles the lives of the seven founders of the GAA in Ireland and in particular, Joseph P. Ryan who is buried in Cranbrook BC, was presented to each family. Later in the evening, Germaine Gibbons was on hand to present the Tom Gibbon’s Memorial trophy to the Vancouver Harps’ Ladies captain, Helen Keohane. Germaine's husband and the late Tom Gibbon’s son, Liam Gibbons, sadly, passed away last winter. Sunday’s fixtures were played in brilliant sunshine and again the Battle of Alberta, between Calgary and Edmonton, produced a cracking tussle. A rejuvenated Chieftain team produced the goals that mattered to take a 2-7 to 1-8 victory. The Ladies played a friendly challenge to round out the game-play, but the first official Red Deer Ladies title went to the Vancouver Harps. Back in the Men's competition, it was the Harps, led by Mikey Harnett, who first dispatched Red Deer, and then the Chieftains, to complete a sweep of tournament titles in 2010. On behalf of all the visiting teams, the Western Canada Division and the Canadian County Board offers special thanks to Red Deer’s Eire Og's Tournament committee and the Titans RFC in Red Deer, for a job well done. |