It’s the Fourth of July and rain will not dampen the celebration of tens of thousands of Americans living in Ireland as they celebrate their national Independence Day.
America has been a major influence on Ireland since our own Independence through financial investment, the locating of major US employers here including Microsoft, Apple Intel and Dell and through high profile and very American branded sponsorships like those of Liberty Insurance in Hurling Camogie and the Late, Late Show.
Culturally we are surrounded by music, TV and movies from stateside, just as is much of the world and in sport the influence is also very strong.
On August 30th Croke Park will open its doors to the College Football teams of the University of Central Florida and Penn State in a fixture that will attract 50,000 fans of the game and the spectacle from Ireland and overseas.
The Notre Dame Navy game at the Aviva Stadium in 2012 brought in as many as 30,000 from the US and Europe and delivered the busiest week the K Club had enjoyed since the Ryder Cup in 2006.
Of the big four US sports, Basketball is the most firmly rooted here with a strong schools programme and a well run senior structure across both Men’s and Women’s sport. Baseball and Ice Hockey are less ingrained but American Football has been a real grower in recent years.
There are now 19 teams competing in National Leagues from Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Drogheda, Dundalk, Mullingar and many more places from North to South.
“There has never been a greater interest in the sport,” said Maurice Cosgrave, Event Manager with the Irish American Football Association.
“We have more teams playing in a structured League fashion and the Shamrock Bowl has become a real sporting fixture of the Summer.”
“The vast majority of players on our teams have come to the sport for the first time through playing here, as opposed to being expatriate players that grew up playing College level in the US.”
“We have a schools programme that is growing all the time and feeding off the popularity of TV programmes like Friday Night Lights and Hard Knocks that show a different and compelling back up picture to the NFL season and the Superbowl.”
“Flag football is becoming more and more popular and is a more relaxed way to get involved rather than having to have the full structure of the team.
“This year’s biggest games stateside attracted more and more venues to put on special nights and people are taking what they see on screen and looking to play the game for real.”
Sky Sports pundit Cecil Martin will be holding a clinic for aspiring young players between 16 and 24 at Westmanstown next Tuesday, July 8th while this year’s Shamrock Bowl will be on August 11th at Tallaght Stadium.
