Charlotte Gaelic Football Club

 The 2009 North American GAA Championships were held in Boston for the second year in a row.  The Charlotte Ladies headed up to Boston on Thursday, September 3rd to get ready for their first game Friday morning against Detroit.  Right away the Charlotte Ladies started out strong and scored quickly to set the tone of the game.  Detroit played well and closed the gap slightly by the half, but Charlotte proved to be quite the competitor, playing solid football frustrating the Detroit team to no end and walking away with their first ever win in a National Championship game.  Not only did the team play extremely well together, but they were congratulated and their performance praised by the head of Ireland’s Ladies GAA, which was quite an honor. 

 

Saturday, September 5th brought about the semi-finals and a team they were quite familiar with, Atlanta’s Na Fianna. Charlotte had defeated Na Fianna twice during the regular season of play, but knew they would be out for revenge and looking for a victory and entrance to the Championship game.  Again, the Charlotte Ladies came out strong, scoring right away and making it known that if Atlanta wanted to win they were going to have to fight for it.  Charlotte continued to dominate the game and were up by 15 points at the half.  Trying not to get over confident, the Charlotte Ladies continued to play their game of football and it wasn’t until the last 5 minutes of the game that Atlanta was able to even score their first and only point of the match sending the Charlotte Ladies to the 2009 Junior B Championship game on Sunday. 

 

The Championship Match pitted the Charlotte Ladies against Denver, a team they had never seen before.  The match started with Charlotte again scoring quickly, however Denver retaliated with scores of their own.  The most competitive and physical match Charlotte has ever played.  Although it was a closer scored match than their previous two, Charlotte still had the lead at the half and did not relinquish that lead for the entire game.  This match was the best demonstration of Gaelic football the Charlotte Ladies had ever played.  They played together as a cohesive team, anticipating passes, backing each other up and always looking three moves ahead.  The coaches and supporters watched eagerly as time ran out for Denver and James Connolly’s Ladies Football team won their first National Championship.