A Beginner’s Guide to Ladies Gaelic Football: Ireland’s Most Exciting Women’s Team Sport
It looks like a cross between soccer, rugby, and basketball. It’s fast, competitive, and rooted in community.
Clan na Gael vs Fog City Harps Ladies Gaelic Football at Páirc na nGael on Treasure Island in San Francisco. Photo by William Wayland.
Ladies Gaelic Football is a dynamic Irish team sport where players carry, kick, and pass the ball down the field to score by kicking or hand-passing the ball over an American football-like crossbar for one point or into a soccer-style net for a goal worth three points.
Clan na Gael vs Fog City Harps Ladies Gaelic Football at Páirc na nGael on Treasure Island in San Francisco. Photo by William Wayland.
Continuous action makes the game exciting to watch and thrilling to play with quick transitions that combine speed, skill, and great teamwork.
In Ireland, the sport is governed by the Ladies’ Gaelic Football Association (LGFA), where it has grown from local parish games into a thriving national and international game with grassroots clubs, school programs, and elite inter-county championships.
Fog City Harps vs Clan na Gael Ladies Gaelic Football at Páirc na nGael on Treasure Island in San Francisco. Photo by William Wayland.
In the Bay Area, the San Francisco GAA has two strong Ladies Gaelic Football clubs: Clan na Gael (who recently celebrated the club’s 25th anniversary) and the Fog City Harps (who won the senior LGF title at the USGAA Finals in Philadelphia). Both bring together women of all backgrounds, some with Irish roots, but many without. They’re drawn to the sport’s energy, teamwork, and social community.
Fog City Harps vs Clan na Gael Ladies Gaelic Football at Páirc na nGael on Treasure Island in San Francisco. Photo by William Wayland.
If you’re interested in trying Ladies Gaelic Football, you’ll find supportive teammates eager to help you learn the game.
With training most of the year and matches from April through August, now is the time to step onto the pitch, get moving, and discover why so many women in San Francisco love Ladies Gaelic Football.
