Gaa in USA

James Stephenson

I'm 19, and I have played gaa county two years a minor, currently on the u21 team, and was wondering what's the possibility of going overt to the US to play for the summer, or should I just wait until 21, any advice as to what city would be best to go to(NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston. ..etc) and do they fix you up with jobs and look after you well? Any info at all would be a great help and very much appreciated.

MentalMario

James Stephenson wrote: »

I'm 19, and I have played gaa county two years a minor, currently on the u21 team, and was wondering what's the possibility of going overt to the US to play for the summer, or should I just wait until 21, any advice as to what city would be best to go to(NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston. ..etc) and do they fix you up with jobs and look after you well? Any info at all would be a great help and very much appreciated.

Are you a hurler or a footballer?

Have you played with one of the top 5 or 6 Minor Counties?

I'd imagine if you're from a perceived weaker County you won't get much special treatment over there, no matter how good you are. At the end of the day, a good Co Minor is, at best, an average Senior hurler.

I'd have friends who would have hurled in Boston, San Fran & NYC.

Boston sorted out accommodation and a handy job. Think it was with a furniture removal company. This was for a few Co u21's (Clare, Waterford & Tipp)

NYC sorted a job & accommodation. This was for a former Tipp Co Minor.

San Fran hooked them up with a job. (Senior Club hurler - former Co Minor - Tipp).

All hurling. Best of luck with it.

James Stephenson

MentalMario wrote: »

Are you a hurler or a footballer?

Have you played with one of the top 5 or 6 Minor Counties?

I'd imagine if you're from a perceived weaker County you won't get much special treatment over there, no matter how good you are. At the end of the day, a good Co Minor is, at best, an average Senior hurler.

I'd have friends who would have hurled in Boston, San Fran & NYC.

Boston sorted out accommodation and a handy job. Think it was with a furniture removal company. This was for a few Co u21's (Clare, Waterford & Tipp)

NYC sorted a job & accommodation. This was for a former Tipp Co Minor.

San Fran hooked them up with a job. (Senior Club hurler - former Co Minor - Tipp).

All hurling. Best of luck with it.

Cheers mate, really appreciate it! I play football for mayo, probably one of the best minor teams!

I'd like to go to either Nyc or boston, as it sounds like they helped out the most!

Any info on how go about contacting them(Facebook, email, twitter)?

Thanks

Fr Tod Umptious

Hi OP.

First off the rules regarding playing in the US differ between NY and the rest of North America.
The rest of North America are governed by the North America County Board (NACB), NY are a law unto themselves.

I can only speak broadly about the rules in the NACB, I have no idea how NY works.

Its 13 a side, no FB or FF.
Season generally runs form May to August with the North America finals on the first weekend in September.
There are two types of player,home (US) based and away (Irish) based.
The deadline for Home based players to be registered is sometime in April, the deadline for Away based is in July.
Right now I think you can have 8 Away based on the field at any one time.
Back in the '90s this number was 3, as back then you had a younger Irish population because of Morrison visas etc, and people were more willing to come over in spring to sign as Home based and overstay their visa waivers until August or beyond.

As for how clubs will cover work and accommodation depends on their funds and how valuable they deem you to be to them.

Check out the NACB website and there you will find contact details of all the clubs.

Drop a few an email and see how you get on, if you are a Mayo minor them someone will know something about you.

By the way there is feck all chance of getting a drink under the age of 21 in a place like Boston, much easier in NY.

Frankie Lee

You can't even sit at a bar in Boston without id.

braddun

your better getting a j1 visa


you should not need much help getting job this summer theres lots of work,but accomadation will take half your money


if you get injured they just drop you


http://www.voicesofny.org/2012/05/green-wave-summer-brings-thousands-of-irish-students-on-j-1-visas/

Fr Tod Umptious

braddun wrote: »

your better getting a j1 visa


you should not need much help getting job this summer theres lots of work,but accomadation will take half your money


if you get injured they just drop you


http://www.voicesofny.org/2012/05/green-wave-summer-brings-thousands-of-irish-students-on-j-1-visas/

Getting a J1 is a good idea actually as it means that you can work legally if the club cannot set up anything for you.

James Stephenson

Thanks a million for the reply's guys, a massive help, especially tge different rules and regulations involved! I think I'll just wait till I'm 21, as that sounds like the best idea, at least now I know how to go about it! Thank you.