GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 38 – November 16, 2015 | Page 10

Summer League 2014. Photo courtesy of Nashville GAC.

“We hand out a lot of promotional cards, and we talk to
anyone who will listen to us talk about the greatest game on
earth,” Watson enthused.
“We have weekly puck arounds at Centennial Park, which
has a lot of visitors who come to use the running trails, play
pick-up soccer matches, or see the replica of the Parthenon,
which is the crown jewel of the park. Passersby will stop to ask
what we sport we are playing. We’ve recruited a few players
through these events.
The club holds social events, typically after training and
matches and have found these to useful recruiting devices also.

LEAGUES
The club felt that in order to grown and become sustainable they had to begin their own competitive structures. So
just over a year after their formation, Nashville GAC made
a local impact in the summer of 2014 with the start of their
first league competition.
Things had been going along nicely with membership on
the rise so it was time to step up to the next level.

“We’ve been able to recruit a couple of people when we are
hanging out at the pub during these events. In the end, though,
word of mouth is our best and most successful recruitment
tool.”

“The City League was our first big local event of note. We
had grown our numbers to around 25 and were able to play a
3 team 7-per-side league. I think starting league play was really important, as it gave people a reason to come out, giving
us something more to do that training drills,” stated Watson.
The club now plays summer and a fall competitions which
have helped to further enhance their profile in Nashville.

The Irish population is not a big one and most of those were
into music rather than sport. However, the club did eventually attract three Irish-born players but the club members
in general are American. Co-founder Anji Watson, though
born in Canada, had a strong Irish connection as her mother
was from County Cork in Ireland.

“The success and growth of the local city leagues have
been important for us. We’ve now played 4 successful seasons, with the number of players, the level of skill, and the
quality of the games improving with each season. We’ve
nearly doubled the number of active players,” the club cofounder said.

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