An organically grown Uganda GAA club is appealing to all Irish clubs for second-hand helmets, and boots, football gloves, old jerseys for over 120 African Ugandan school children who have fallen in love with hurling and football - without any direct Irish involvement
The 'official' club was founded by friends Moses Amanyire and Robert Bakaza after coming across videos on TikTok and YouTube of the sport in 2019.
However, watching the speed of the native game in Ireland did make their heads spin after they started watching weekly matches on the TV GAA GO subscription gifted to them by the GAA for the 2022 season.
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The club is currently waiting for over 100 hurls and sliotars which will be distributed from the Irish Embassy in Uganda once a present Eboli outbreak in Kampala is contained.
The much-needed equipment was sent to them by kind-hearted Meath company Cultec who were taken aback when they saw the children on Instagram playing with makeshift hurls and tennis balls.
"There was a lot of logistics involved in getting 100 hurls from Meath to Uganda, but between us, the club, the GAA, the Irish Embassy, a travel agent Simba travel and John Walsh of the Irish Society in Uganda, we managed to get the stock over to them safely and it's being stored in the Embassy until such a time when it's safe to distribute," said Deirdre Donohoe, who runs Cultec alongside her husband John, outside Navan.
"They were making some of the hurls from mahogany, which is a weapon altogether,"; she laughed.
"Cultec hurleys are also more suited to the hot climate than traditional ash which can change with the environment unlike our more durable carbon fibre ones."
Co-founder Moses Amanyire said: "After seeing the videos, we had to establish ourselves if hurling was indeed the fastest sport on the grass.
"The GAA football struck us as fascinating as it seemed to combine all elements of soccer, handball and volleyball which was amazing.
"We play all those individual sports anyway so thought it would be great to introduce the Irish football and the kids love it
"And the sport has such a rich culture and heritage. Hurling is the most loved here. The boys love it and we can see them putting in so much hard work and dedication already."
Speaking from Uganda John Walsh said the children seem to have embraced hurling because it is unlike any other sport they've ever seen.
"This club started organically and will continue to do so to see where it leads them to grow by being Ugandan-led.
"I've just come on board for guidance, in training tips, and helping with logistics when we are lucky enough to have donations of equipment if needed and to help them get more equipment," said the Galwegian economics lecturer.
"Moses the main trainer, teaches PE and introduced both hurling and football to his school on a trial basis, and it grew from there as word got around of how the kids got such great enjoyment from playing.
"There was no Irish involvement at all for two years until they got in touch with the GAA.
"They don't have a full GAA handbook. If you can imagine from watching TikTok and YouTube videos, they had snapshots of the rules and guidelines of both hurling and gaelic football. But in true Irish spirit, gave it a lash and began making hurls themselves.
"For example, they thought you threw the ball in football instead of hand passing and didn't realise you can hit a sliotar along the ground. They thought from videos that you had to pick it up all the time.
"As the most popular videos on social media are all fast and fancy stuff, it took a while and a little bit of guidance to get some videos on basic skills.
"The handmade hurls were good and thick, made from Mvule and even Mahogany and they used tennis balls initially. The kids love it. Football is like a cross between basketball and soccer but hurling is unlike anything they've seen before.
"The GAA were kind enough to give them a subscription to watch the GAA matches and they watched a game every Sunday. Watching hurling though had their heads in a spin. It was like watching Speedy Gonzales. They couldn't quite get to grips with the speed of the game.
"There are three or four schools now with about 120 kids involved but schools here are under-resourced and so that's why we are so thrilled with the gift from Cultec.
"We are aiming to stage a blitz ahead of St Patrick's Day with four teams. We are aiming to have two girls teams as we feel it's important to push gender parity. It is something that all involved are keen to have at the center of the club.
"You rarely see girls participating in team sports in Uganda and we can’t fix that overnight, but we are determined to do our bit to include girls in the club and ensure that all children are seen as equals.
"However at the minute, we have hurls and sliotars, thanks to Cultec but we only have 15 helmets so can only play seven a side. We are appealing to anyone who has an old helmet or boots or jerseys to send them onto us via Cultec, who have kindly agreed to store them over and then send them in bulk.
"This is the first All-Uganda championship, and we are also very willing to accept corporate sponsorship for the event if any company back home would like to get on board for a great cause.
"The club and children would be delighted if people could send on old helmets they no longer use. We just ask that they are safe and not cracked and no foam is missing.
"Any helmet that is donated will get a second life with a new personalised makeover! This will be a combination of the children painting helmets, and some local Ugandan street artists who can show off their artistic skills to a wider audience.
"When you come to Uganda you will be blown away by the quality of the street artists, and we would like to share this with people back home in Ireland".
The club can be contacted on Instagram at @officalugandagaa
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