Vancouver Ladies Harps Information and 2009 Recap
The Vancouver ladies Gaelic football team is a group of approximately 45 ladies in the Vancouver and Greater Vancouver area. Our team has grown quite substantially over the last two years, evident by the fact we were able to enter two teams into the tournament portion of the Vancouver Tournament/WCD Championship weekend in 2009. Our ladies club consists of ladies from all over the world, including Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Scotland and ladies of all ages. The last year has seen a few great players arrive and leave, but we have a strong base of returning players which has expanded greatly during 2009 and hopefully will continue through 2010. 2009 also marks the arrival of Ronan Matthews joining the team as coach, who effectively coached us to another successful year.
The Vancouver ladies have a long history with the Seattle Gaels and enjoy several match weekends throughout the year. Each year, we also travel to one of Calgary, Edmonton or Red Deer and host all teams here in Vancouver for one weekend every year. This year we also had a successful trip to San Francisco and were grateful for the opportunity to play some different teams.
2009 was an exciting year for the ladies, kicking off with the ISSC’s annual mixed Sevens Tournament (3rd successful season of this unique tournament), which was sponsored by the Black Frog in 2009. The 5 week tournament was a good taste for the new ladies that played for the first time during the tournament, and have become important players for the Harps.
June was round one of the Western Canadian Championships. Vancouver hosted a two day event combining a tournament with the championships, which brought Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary for the championship and Seattle to join in the tournament. For a second year, the Vancouver ladies were able to field enough numbers to split into two teams and form the Harps and the Celts for the tournament. The Celts came away with the victory of the tournament, with the Harps as close contenders for second. Helen Keohane of the Celts was awarded MVP. The Vancouver ladies Harps also had a clean sweep of the weekend in the Championship portion, placing us in a good position for the finals in Edmonton.
Maybe the biggest highlight for the year was the trip to Edmonton for a two day tournament and the final games of the Western Canadian Championships. The Vancouver ladies Harps team was successful not only in the tournament, but at the end of the weekend, we brought the Tommy Gibbons cup home to Vancouver for the third year in a row!
Finally, Elan Park, Marie Dowling, Alaina Bleker, Rita Burke, Stacey Lewis-Jaklin, Angela Oldknow, Helen Keohane, and Tara Philips from the Vancouver Harps were named as the 2009 Western Canadian GAA All Stars. The ISSC is very proud of the Vancouver ladies and the great accomplishment that 8 of the 11 spots on the All Stars were awarded to the Vancouver Harps.
I looking forward to seeing you all again in 2010 with Ronan Matthews and Helen Keohane and look forward to meeting all the newcomers! Details of training nights and some new events with be forthcoming shortly.
To be added to our mailing list, please email me at ladiesfootball@isscvancouver.com.
Mel Fisher
Vancouver Ladies Harps Representative