Players at Donegal Dubai's first official training session last Wednesday.
By Cian O’Connell
The O’Neill’s footballs arrived in Dubai via planes, trains, and automobiles.
Donegal Dubai’s first training sessions took place last week so chairperson Liam Doherty is delighted with the progress being made. “It is very hard to get O'Neill's footballs out here,” he explains.
“You've to order from home, we had a bit of a timeframe to get training running for Wednesday. I actually called back to O'Reilly's in Donegal, they are doing the gear for us - Marty Reilly, he put me in touch with Pat The Cope (Gallagher) in Donegal, who thankfully sponsored 10 footballs for us.”
Then, the logistical challenge occurred. “It was a matter of getting the footballs from Donegal to Dubai by Wednesday,” Doherty laughs. “I got my friend to collect them in Dunloe, to take them to Kilcar. My father gave them to a guy who was going to a Coldplay concert.
"He left them in a hotel and one of the committee members was over at Coldplay, he went to the hotel, picked up a Donegal bag full of 10 O'Neill's footballs, and he had them back in Dubai at 10 o'clock on Sunday night for us to have them out on the field for Wednesday.
“That is the GAA, in my opinion, that community thing. You drop one message, another man messages, and it just spirals to the point where everybody has been so good. Once they heard we needed footballs by Wednesday everybody got involved and we got them over.”
So, Doherty is relieved the actual football has started because Donegal Dubai GAA Club was only founded a couple of months ago. “It was a bit of a passion project for me and another guy from Donegal, Conor Gibbons, he'd actually have been on Donegal panels back in 2014 and 2015,” Doherty explains.
“He's over in Dubai now. It was a bit of a passion project, we talked about it for long enough. Then, this summer we said let’s go for this, and the Middle East Board have been excellent in terms of getting us up and running.”
Support has been available, but the Donegal and Irish community in Dubai are backing the project. “Obviously, we had to pitch to them in terms of what we were looking to do with the club and what the outcome is going to be, whether this year or the next three to four years,” Doherty adds.
“The reaction has just been brilliant. We know that Donegal clubs have done well historically, the likes of Tír Chonaill Gaels, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, my brother was involved with them one summer. These sorts of clubs have done well and been able to gather big numbers. That is where it started. We said why is there no Middle East presence for Donegal GAA? The reaction has been brilliant.
Donegal Dubai's first ladies football session took place on Thursday.
“We were expecting to have maybe two men’s teams this year and as of the training numbers, we are looking at potentially having three men’s teams and three ladies teams, which is six teams in comparison to the two we were thinking of.”
Momentum is being generated, there is significant interest. “Names are still coming in, I was just looking at the group before we came on this call,” Doherty says.
“The names are still coming in, it isn't just Donegal people, it is people looking for a social club. That is what we are trying to pitch it, and it is more about building a community around a club, football will come along with that.”
Doherty and Gibbons quickly secured a training venue and they felt there was a need for more clubs with the increasing number of Irish people living in Dubai. “This is one of the things I pitched to the Middle East County Board when we had our call,” Doherty replies.
“They were asking is there a need for more clubs? A lot of clubs out here don't suit what some people are looking for, that social element where you need to get to know people or want to become part of a community. The more clubs that are there, the more you can do around format.
“Right now, the format is really good in terms of the blitzes and tournaments. If we got another two or three clubs in the Middle East, you're in a position then when you could potentially have a league format. I think that is what everybody would like, is that you'd be playing one team as opposed to tournaments every two months.”
Donegal Dubai are busy preparing for their opening involvement in a tournament next month. The planning and plotting continues with people willing to contribute in various ways. “When we started it was myself and Conor, now we've a committee of six,” Doherty says.
“We’re adding two more to that committee. You've a lot of roles within a club, when you start off everybody is doing everything to get it up and running.
"Thankfully, last Wednesday and Thursday we had great turnouts. We had 35 to 40 men, and maybe 30 women at training on Thursday. It was about getting bodies on the field and getting the club established. It is only established if you've members, in my opinion.
Donegal Dubai will play in a tournament next month.
“That is what we were looking at for the last couple of months. We did have a meeting last week to put a bit of a structure on who is doing what. We still have the likes of football gear to get, we've sponsors and people helping out on the funding side to work on that.”
Doherty acknowledges the hurdles that will need to be cleared, but the response has been extremely positive. Roughly half of the players presently training with the club are Donegal natives. “One of the pushers to start the club, and I've been here seven years, and some of the committee members have been here for eight or nine years,” he says.
“Over the years, we've nearly been able to track down every Donegal person that plays a bit of football out here, we had 20 or 25 that were interested in the club. Apart from that 25 or 30 now, in our WhatsApp group you're looking at nearly half Donegal and the other half a very random mix.
“We've a couple of South African guys, who've joined, they played rugby. We have some Limerick lads because of work connections, really it is some of them, who think that rugby can be too serious over here, they just want something that gets you part of a community. Some people are just happy with a one day a week training, that kind of an atmosphere.
“So, we have a big mix, definitely 90 to 95 per cent Irish people, who played football, but we've that five per cent of South Africans or New Zealanders, or guys from the UK working with people that would like to learn the skills and be part of something.”
There is no shortage of ideas or enthusiasm. “There is a lot to think about,” Doherty says. “Definitely, last summer when we were talking about this, you'd think it was a matter of getting jerseys and going out on the field, but it isn't that easy. You need a committee, you need a structure, everybody needs to have assigned roles.
“It is like a business and we are lucky a lot of the committee do work in business, so we have that strategy of what is our plan this year and what is our plan next year.
“This year we did say we were just going to be a men's team, that was the initial thought, but we got so much response and reaction from ladies, we said okay, let’s open it up. Once that happened it did spiral, a lot of the ladies’ boyfriends joined the group.”
Possibilities exist. “Now, the talk is for next year to potentially have a juvenile section,” Doherty says. “A lot of fathers and mothers in the group have said their kids would love a Friday or Saturday morning kickaround if that is possible. We are looking at that, potentially, for next year.
“Then, you have hurling, I know hurling isn't a stronghold in Donegal, but that is something we will look at down the line.” The Donegal Dubai adventure is simply commencing.
