KZN scoops Gaelic football title
Just five months after forming KZNs first Gaelic Football team, Irishman and Danville Avenue resident Donal Ryan has turned his team into national champions.
![KZN's first Gaelic football team, the 'Zulu Gaels', was crowned SA Gaels Spring Blitz national champs. With the trophy are back: Jared Friedland, Shelton Thorburn, Clayton Dix, Calvin Berry and front: Craig Botha, Alan Hanley and Donal Ryan (coach and player).](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2014/03/42shgael-1024x768.jpg)
THEY should be called the ‘all conquering’ Zulu Gaels and for good reason. That’s because KwaZulu-Natal’s first ever Gaelic Football team won this years’ SA Gaels Spring Blitz national competition.
Donal Ryan, the man who started it all, said he was ecstatic with his team’s performance. “It was fantastic. We had no idea what to expect. Going up against more experienced sides is never easy, but the lads and lass were superb. We won the final game by a point and the thing that stuck out for me is the team’s spirit and their determination to win,” Ryan said.
Shotstopper extraordinaire, Alan Hanley, another Irishman on the team, said he was very impressed with his teams performance.
“I hadn’t played gaelic football for four years before the tournament but it was fantastic to be in the competitive realm again. The team played like stars and they would all be on any all-Ireland team,” Hanley said.
Jared Friedland, a Durban North resident and defensive juggernaut, said the standout feature of the team’s performance was their ‘never give up’ attitude.
“Everybody played their hearts out. AB, one of our players, dislocated his shoulder and simply popped it back into place and played on. We are all stoked. To be KZN’s first gaelic football national champs is absolutely brilliant,” Friedland enthused.
With a moniker like the ‘all conquering’ Zulu Gaels it’s not hard to see why this team is going in one direction, and that’s to the top.
“We want to grow from here. The team has really taken to the sport. I would love more people to join. That’s my dream to see the sport expand,” Ryan said.
For more information or to join contact Donal 076 706 3612 or email donaloriain @gmail.com